Recursion Deluxe

[H1] Minimal platformer. Might be interesting for some people. [/h1]

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I didn't have many expectations (I had never heard of the original 2012 Flash game) and I've been pleasantly surprised by this puzzle-platformer based on a simple wrap-around mechanic: getting to one edge of the screen causes the player to re-enter from the opposite side. Other mechanics are gradually introduced, including gravity changers, and keys to remove blocks of the same color. The level design is really good, with plenty of nice and sometimes pretty clever puzzles; initially they are mostly single-screen levels but their size starts increasing to two or more screens at a time. As they become more complex, careful planning of moves becomes necessary: for example, often just getting the keys is not enough, they must also be collected in the right order, or you may remove a platform you need to reach some other key or switch before you can even make use of it. Dying forces to restart a whole level but there are infinite retries. Most times it's not annoying, but becomes so at the end, where the longest level also introduces an unexpected last mechanic: an escort mission of sorts. The other selectable character is found and follows the player, repeating the same movements and…

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After nearly 10 years, the developers have fixed the memory leak issue, so the game is perfectly playable now. Massive respect!

4/10