Antichamber

It's going to be very difficult to describe Antichamber without ruining the game for those who've yet to experience it, so with that in mind you'll have to forgive the brevity of this review.

Antichamber is a first-person puzzler from indie dev Alexander Bruce, and it's one of the most thought provoking games we've ever played. Not only does it test the old grey matter in a way that few others can, but it's also imbued with irrepressible charm and a wonderfully subtle sense of humour.

Players are tasked with escaping from a non-Euclidian labyrinth. There's no pre-amble, no tutorial, and no overt helping hand guiding you. Just cryptic clues and puzzles that divide up the world, barring access to further challenges. Progress in any one direction can only be achieved once the relevant puzzle has been solved, but this is far from a linear adventure. It's a place where time is an abstract concept, and forward progress can often lead you back to where you started. Confused? You should be...

It's a challenge, pure and simple. Just a few minutes into your adventure and you'll be scratching your head, wondering how the hell you're going to make progress. The solution is usually closer than you might first suspect, but progress in Antichamber must be earned. Sometimes there's nothing to be done other than carefully pondering the situation over a brew, as your mind traverses logic and reason in search of an elusive answer.

There are quirky signs dotted around the world, and upon reflection they usually offer helpful advice on how best to proceed, opening your eyes to an unexplored route through a combination of blunt explanation and brilliantly cryptic turns of phrase. In a stroke of genius from the developer, there are even signs that tell you what to do after you've done it. They pat you on the back when you've done something right, reaffirming that you are indeed on the right track after all.

Moving around the world provides a mass of contradictions. Tricks that work for one puzzle don't necessarily work for another that is, from a cursory glance, almost exactly the same. Stairs can build themselves underfoot, elevating you to new levels without any warning. At other times the floor can dissolve, sending you falling like Alice down the rabbit hole.

Antichamber will draw many comparisons to Valve's Portal, and not just because it's a puzzle game of fiendish proportions. There's Block Guns dotted around the game, and these allow you to interact with your environment, allowing you to alter your surroundings. Blocks can be sucked into the handheld tool, to be fired out later on, dispersed in and around the puzzles you encounter en route. Sometimes they're used for breaking lasers that activate doors, other times the blocks are used to create ad-hoc platforms so as to traverse obstacles.

Failure to complete a puzzle (by doing something that locks you out of an area, or by walking through an area that strips you of your collected blocks) means heading back to the titular Antichamber. Here you can see a map of all the puzzles you've encountered, and opposite it is a collection of all of the prophetic nuggets of wisdom provided by the many signs dotted around the game. Retreating here resets your progress on the last attempted obstacle, but it's nice being able to take a step back from the puzzling and inspect your overall progress. You can also use the map to access any puzzle encountered up to that point, so if one solution eludes you, there's always another challenge to be taken on elsewhere.

Vivid colours clash to create a wholesome meal for the senses, and whilst there's nothing too complicated going on graphically, the palette has been superbly arranged. It's visually striking, and unlike anything else out there. In a world where so many games adopt similar styles so as to avoid taking any potentially disastrous risks, Antichamber stands out from the crowd. It's minimalist, sure, but the white canvas of the game is punctuated by rich primary colours, that not only act as food for the eyes, but as markers as you explore the non-Euclidian labyrinth.

Some puzzles look like they've been lifted straight out of an hallucination. Stairs are connected to corridors that loop back on themselves and boxes reveal different things depending on where they are viewed from. It's entirely reminiscent of the art of Escher. An easy comparison, but it fits like a glove. Subtle audio cues only add to the carefully arranged atmosphere.

For all its strengths, Antichamber is a finite experience, and you won't likely get much replay value from the game (not unless you give it a couple of years before revisiting it), but that said it's not as short as one would first expect, and there's enough challenge here to keep you coming back until every last puzzle has been conquered.

Some of the puzzles are incredibly obscure, so much so that finding the solution can bring relief instead of satisfaction, but it's a minor gripe. The philosophical charm of the game provides enough distraction from the frustrations of not knowing how to proceed at certain times, and the knowledge that a solution is never that far away will ensure most people push through the adversity.

Antichamber is a beautiful and unique game. If you're looking for a thought-provoking experience that won't easily yield, look no further than this. Whilst there's moments where the puzzles frustrate, it's a small inconvenience that is massively overshadowed by the game's positive aspects. It's also not going to appeal to everyone, but for those seeking a genuine challenge, one that pushes the mind in different directions, it's well worth the price of admission.