Linelight

Linelight (2017) is a puzzle game about complex circuits. Your task is to move a small line of light along the correct path to collect diamonds and unlock the next area. It's an ingenious puzzle game, with pared-down symbolic visuals that accentuate the electronic theme.

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Without written instructions, Linelight uses clever game design to introduce its various elements gradually. You move your line of light along the thin drawn circuits of the game to get to the next area. Along the way you need to negotiate obstructions with the games range of symbols. You might need to activate a switch to move a platform, or collect a key to release a path.

As you progress you get to know a wide range of these symbols and the effects they have on the environment or your line of light. You discover it's not only circuits but time itself that can be manipulated in the later stages. Or there are moments when you need to record your movements and play them back to create a programmed clone of yourself to solve a particular scenario.

The result is a stylised puzzle game with surprising depth. Each of the individual puzzles form part of a larger diagram that lends the game scale and a sense of progression. It's a game that leans on its clever levels rather than pretty graphics or narrative to keep you interested. It is all about the puzzle, and there is a lot of puzzling to do here.

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Our examiner, Andrea Walney, first checked Linelight 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 10 months ago.