I love........... shapes
This game was an absolute pleasure to play and to look at. I would often find myself delaying the puzzles just to appreciate the incredible environment from multiple angles.
The only shortcoming was the lack of new puzzle elements and a lack of interesting re-use/combination of certain puzzle elements in a few of the central levels of the game.
The only shortcoming was the lack of new puzzle elements and a lack of interesting re-use/combination of certain puzzle elements in a few of the central levels of the game.
A Gorgeus puzzle game, with tripping colors and shapes that makes the best of it's idea, through the game you'll be baffled with the environments while solving the puzzles.
The puzzles itself are well thought , you start with and small concept and expand upon it throughout the game , my favorite ones were the fluids one.
But, because the spaces were big, sometimes it would take a long time to just walk were you needed it to, and you can get lost pretty easily because of that as well, it lacks a form of a hint system, as other puzzles games also do.
The puzzles itself are well thought , you start with and small concept and expand upon it throughout the game , my favorite ones were the fluids one.
But, because the spaces were big, sometimes it would take a long time to just walk were you needed it to, and you can get lost pretty easily because of that as well, it lacks a form of a hint system, as other puzzles games also do.
Absolutely gorgeous, but a little bit too easy.
The concept of objectivity when it comes to thinking about art is largely a myth. We all approach any piece of art with our own personal contexts, drawing from our own past experiences in our understanding of it. In my case, I came to Manifold Garden having already watched Jacob Geller's video The Shape of Infinity (arguably my favourite video from my favourite writer about videogames as an artform), and I don't doubt it strongly influenced my experience as a result.
That experience was one where you're thrown into boundless spaces, countless identical structures stretching eternally into the distance, making you feel dwarfed by the very notion of endlessness and then deciding to use that endlessness to your advantage. Where often the best way to reach places above you is to fall down to them. Where the very notion of what direction is even upwards becomes twisted, obscured; you end up seeing stairs or towers and assuming that means you stand right-way-up on this terrain, but these assumptions fall apart with the realisation this world is one not made for people, and as you shift gravity to turn hallways into diving shafts so you can plummet to your next location you start to question if it was really a hallway at all.
It's so hard for me not to see the game from this perspective of its reality-warping viewpoints, from how small it makes me feel, how much it has me confront the true nature of the infinite. That's with the context I'm coming at it from, but I also get that it would be easy to see it just as some neat, colourful puzzle game set in non-Euclidean spaces if you don't have the same context. Like I said, experiences with art come with associated prior experiences that build up to them, nothing we engage with exists in a vacuum. Anyways, watch that video beforehand if you intend to play this game, I think it made my time with the game meaningfully more enjoyable as a result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm5Ogh_c0Ig
Update; I do think, reflecting on it, that whilst the best moments of the game were wonderful for me they were also not super common in part due to how the block puzzles can at times drag the game back down to normality? It's hard for them not to feel mundane against the backdrop of wonder, and for that contrast to be disruptive. There were also a couple moments of intense frustration I had in the opening hour or so where the game was poor at communicating what it needed me to do. I was fairly forgiving about all this at the time since my favourite moments in the game were concentrated near the end, but it's definitely made the game hold up a bit less positively in my memory over the past week or so.
That experience was one where you're thrown into boundless spaces, countless identical structures stretching eternally into the distance, making you feel dwarfed by the very notion of endlessness and then deciding to use that endlessness to your advantage. Where often the best way to reach places above you is to fall down to them. Where the very notion of what direction is even upwards becomes twisted, obscured; you end up seeing stairs or towers and assuming that means you stand right-way-up on this terrain, but these assumptions fall apart with the realisation this world is one not made for people, and as you shift gravity to turn hallways into diving shafts so you can plummet to your next location you start to question if it was really a hallway at all.
It's so hard for me not to see the game from this perspective of its reality-warping viewpoints, from how small it makes me feel, how much it has me confront the true nature of the infinite. That's with the context I'm coming at it from, but I also get that it would be easy to see it just as some neat, colourful puzzle game set in non-Euclidean spaces if you don't have the same context. Like I said, experiences with art come with associated prior experiences that build up to them, nothing we engage with exists in a vacuum. Anyways, watch that video beforehand if you intend to play this game, I think it made my time with the game meaningfully more enjoyable as a result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm5Ogh_c0Ig
Update; I do think, reflecting on it, that whilst the best moments of the game were wonderful for me they were also not super common in part due to how the block puzzles can at times drag the game back down to normality? It's hard for them not to feel mundane against the backdrop of wonder, and for that contrast to be disruptive. There were also a couple moments of intense frustration I had in the opening hour or so where the game was poor at communicating what it needed me to do. I was fairly forgiving about all this at the time since my favourite moments in the game were concentrated near the end, but it's definitely made the game hold up a bit less positively in my memory over the past week or so.
Visual masterpiece, fun puzzles, but a little... shallow? I feel like I expected more
any% speedrun was fun :)
any% speedrun was fun :)
this game is pretty...... pretty LONG!!!!!
this game asks the daring question of "what if everything was straight edged and the entire game looped and made you feel really cool and smart for figuring out puzzles"
A really creative puzzle game that bends the mind in more ways than one. No puzzle type overstayed its welcome and the mechanics were easy to understand but difficult to navigate, matching an excellent balance of exploratory puzzles and intuitive thought process. Sound and music were superb throughout. I experienced minor performance issues on Switch, especially in larger rooms. It didn't impact my enjoyment, but it is noticeable. My most major gripe comes with navigation and orientation. Too often was I completely disoriented in an area with being unsure of where to go or even where I came from. Simple flashing markers or some sort of colored indicator could fix the issues and would prevent the meaningless wandering time.
This is a really awesome and beautiful-looking game. I spent way too long just taking screenshots of everything using the photo-mode.
My only issue with it is that a lot of the time (particularly in the wide-open areas), it's genuinely a lot harder to figure out where important stuff is than it is to solve the actual puzzles. I feel like a bit more sign-posting in these areas would be extremely beneficial, and that the more confined puzzle-room areas could be made longer and more in-depth to compensate.
Other than that though, I strongly recommend this, especially if you loved Portal or Superliminal!
My only issue with it is that a lot of the time (particularly in the wide-open areas), it's genuinely a lot harder to figure out where important stuff is than it is to solve the actual puzzles. I feel like a bit more sign-posting in these areas would be extremely beneficial, and that the more confined puzzle-room areas could be made longer and more in-depth to compensate.
Other than that though, I strongly recommend this, especially if you loved Portal or Superliminal!
Sooo good. Felt like I was playing portal for the first time again. Just a great puzzle game to test spatial awareness and logic and such. The sound design is also great. When you unlock a door it makes the most satisfying sound ever.
This game is intensely beautiful in both graphics and sound, but the gameplay doesn't do the game justice. You see, Manifold Garden leans heavily into being a puzzle game, but the puzzles are really disappointing.
On a normal run, the game presents itself as fairly linear, and most of the puzzles are solved before you can even figure out what it is you have to do: You see a cube, you grab it, you see some water, you put the cube on the water to re-direct it, you grab another cube, follow the stream, see the water wheel, redirect the water into it, puzzle solved. Most of the puzzles take about as long to solve as putting all of the pieces together, with not much time required for thinking. It's really quite disappointing.
Doing the 'Game Is Not Enough' route turns the game into a frustrating experience revolving around navigating infinitely looping environments, looking for portals to let you progress (four pillars, all of the passages between them loop infinitely save for one) and for cubes to let you solve the 'puzzles'. For example, near the end of the route, you have a yellow socket and a green socket in the back-ass middle of nowhere. You have to find a yellow cube, a green cube, or two yellow-green cubes to fit in there. I managed to find one yellow-green cube, and within a few minutes, dragged it across the map, through two nexus areas, to the puzzle. However, I could not find a yellow-green cube, so I resolved to get a green cube, and 'walk' it across the map using two red cubes. After some time 'walking', I reached a large staircase, which prevented me from using the 'walking' method. I ended up coming up with a way to 'walk' the green cube up using the two red cubes as well as the green-yellow cube from earlier. After forty minutes spent tediously getting the cube up the stairs, I was home free. Some fairly tight platforming and a bit more 'walking' later, I was able to progress.
This took over an hour. Over an hour of lugging a cube across the map. The stairs thing was the only time I felt smart when playing the game, but it was not worth spending an hour getting the cube across the map.
Overall, the game is really pretty, but the puzzles are a big let-down — the infinite looping nature of the environments starts to count against the game when exploration becomes completely nonsensical, so it's impossible to navigate the environments unless you have a guide, or you are willing to scour every corner of the map for portals. The game would have been better off as more of a walking simulator and less of a puzzle game.
On a normal run, the game presents itself as fairly linear, and most of the puzzles are solved before you can even figure out what it is you have to do: You see a cube, you grab it, you see some water, you put the cube on the water to re-direct it, you grab another cube, follow the stream, see the water wheel, redirect the water into it, puzzle solved. Most of the puzzles take about as long to solve as putting all of the pieces together, with not much time required for thinking. It's really quite disappointing.
Doing the 'Game Is Not Enough' route turns the game into a frustrating experience revolving around navigating infinitely looping environments, looking for portals to let you progress (four pillars, all of the passages between them loop infinitely save for one) and for cubes to let you solve the 'puzzles'. For example, near the end of the route, you have a yellow socket and a green socket in the back-ass middle of nowhere. You have to find a yellow cube, a green cube, or two yellow-green cubes to fit in there. I managed to find one yellow-green cube, and within a few minutes, dragged it across the map, through two nexus areas, to the puzzle. However, I could not find a yellow-green cube, so I resolved to get a green cube, and 'walk' it across the map using two red cubes. After some time 'walking', I reached a large staircase, which prevented me from using the 'walking' method. I ended up coming up with a way to 'walk' the green cube up using the two red cubes as well as the green-yellow cube from earlier. After forty minutes spent tediously getting the cube up the stairs, I was home free. Some fairly tight platforming and a bit more 'walking' later, I was able to progress.
This took over an hour. Over an hour of lugging a cube across the map. The stairs thing was the only time I felt smart when playing the game, but it was not worth spending an hour getting the cube across the map.
Overall, the game is really pretty, but the puzzles are a big let-down — the infinite looping nature of the environments starts to count against the game when exploration becomes completely nonsensical, so it's impossible to navigate the environments unless you have a guide, or you are willing to scour every corner of the map for portals. The game would have been better off as more of a walking simulator and less of a puzzle game.
Kino
this game will make your brain hurt but it's beautiful and definitely worth playing if you enjoy puzzle games
this game will make your brain hurt but it's beautiful and definitely worth playing if you enjoy puzzle games
Definitivamente bonito, cair em céu aberto me lembrou muito de Gravit Rush (um dos meus jogos favoritos).
Mas...intankavel joguinho de puzzle. Admito ser algo pessoal, mas não consigo gostar nem de um jogo objetivamente bom como esse.
Mas...intankavel joguinho de puzzle. Admito ser algo pessoal, mas não consigo gostar nem de um jogo objetivamente bom como esse.
euclideancels be seething over manifoldchads
Manifold Garden is a very beautiful puzzle game. I love the avant-garde surreal realms, and the actual puzzles within the game are not brain-shatteringly difficult. While some find the campaign to be on the short side, I enjoyed the pace at which I was able to get through it. Awesome game, loved it!
antichamber but cooler and better and with more tessellation and ambition. seriously play it if u liked antichamber, worth the hassle in some parts for the cooler puzzles.
While not as gripping as some other puzzle titles, the concept and visuals here are top tier. Fully expect to come back to this one when I am in a full puzzle mood, but for now it was not gripping enough to marathon through.
great game cant remember anything about it but remembered it being a nice amount of challenging
Em essência, o jogo é a gamificação de vertigem com algumas cores e quebra-cabeças ao longo do caminho. Queria gostar mais do que gostei, mas me faltou engajamento para terminar o que comecei, talvez por conta do elo minimalista do jogo, talvez pela falta de interesse nos quebra-cabeças.
Independente disso, a arte é muito bela, trata-se de uma imersão dinâmica em um quadro de Escher, sobreposto com físicas anormais.
Enfim, Manifold Garden traz excelentes ideias, mas peca em alguns sentidos para os jogadores como eu, que exigem motivantes mais claros e não são tão engajados no mundo minimalista aplicado aos jogos.
Independente disso, a arte é muito bela, trata-se de uma imersão dinâmica em um quadro de Escher, sobreposto com físicas anormais.
Enfim, Manifold Garden traz excelentes ideias, mas peca em alguns sentidos para os jogadores como eu, que exigem motivantes mais claros e não são tão engajados no mundo minimalista aplicado aos jogos.
Manifold Garden is an impressive but also a hollow game. Many compare it to Antichamber, and while there are some similarities like the focus on abstract space Manifold Garden is far less then Antichamber. Antichamber tried to link abstract space into it's puzzles and due to it's non linear nature was able to tie abstract space to exploration. In Manifold Garden two puzzles use abstract space in the most basic way possible and the linear nature of the game means most abstract space is just, walk through an arch with nothing behind it and end up in a room. Manifold garden's architecture is an extension of the finale of Antichamber where the player is let loose in an endlessly looping space of strange buildings, but while in AntiChamber it was a surprise in Manifold Garden its everywhere. The similarities go even deeper despite Antichamber and Manifold Garden's artistic ambitions they quickly resort to banal block puzzles and repeated solutions. Puzzle solving is ceases being a puzzle and becomes a chore of endlessly inputting the same solutions with slight variations, but while Antichamber had some ambitious puzzles like the tower climb Manifold garden trades ambition for a light and fluffy difficulty.
As you stare around at the skyline of endlessly repeated buildings and the music swells to a crescendo the game is delight to behold. Manifold Garden truly wants to dwarf the player, but really its a cheap trick. What you are looking at is the same area you are one repeated adnuasium. Sometimes you can even see your invisible self carry blocks in the distance. The sprawling infinity of Manifold Garden is simply a hall of mirrors the same hollow location refracted to infinity. This makes the game ideal for budding journalists, writers, and video essayists. When you step into the hall of mirrors the player becomes a part of the infinite and the reflection can projected inward. With the proper state of mind the hollow expanse can be filled with all sorts of thoughts and themes. The ending is a beautiful stargate lightshow that twists and turns is it a building? The eye of a monster? A planet? Its the most beautiful part of the game but what is added to it by being at the end of Manifold Garden? Would it be changed if it was at the beginning of the game? In the middle? A teaser trailer on the official YouTube channel? The grandness of infinity! The meaninglessly of human life! The beauty of modernity! The fear of modernity! The importance of natures/joy/life/space/everything! Yet there is nothing lining the expanse but simple sub 10 element block puzzles.
Manifold Garden isn't a puzzle game its an art exhibit. The puzzles are seemingly easy so anyone could solve them and get back to gawking at the next set piece. As Polygon's Nicole Carpenter said, "I often feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, but I never feel despondent or troubled by that confusion." Puzzles so simple they solve themselves without thinking. I wonder if Manifold Garden would be better if it was more like Nassinance and simply let the player explore the environments with no puzzles? Is that the worst critique you can levy at a puzzle game, that it would be better with no puzzles? That the game would be better if it had no gameplay? That the game doesn't wanna be a game?
As you stare around at the skyline of endlessly repeated buildings and the music swells to a crescendo the game is delight to behold. Manifold Garden truly wants to dwarf the player, but really its a cheap trick. What you are looking at is the same area you are one repeated adnuasium. Sometimes you can even see your invisible self carry blocks in the distance. The sprawling infinity of Manifold Garden is simply a hall of mirrors the same hollow location refracted to infinity. This makes the game ideal for budding journalists, writers, and video essayists. When you step into the hall of mirrors the player becomes a part of the infinite and the reflection can projected inward. With the proper state of mind the hollow expanse can be filled with all sorts of thoughts and themes. The ending is a beautiful stargate lightshow that twists and turns is it a building? The eye of a monster? A planet? Its the most beautiful part of the game but what is added to it by being at the end of Manifold Garden? Would it be changed if it was at the beginning of the game? In the middle? A teaser trailer on the official YouTube channel? The grandness of infinity! The meaninglessly of human life! The beauty of modernity! The fear of modernity! The importance of natures/joy/life/space/everything! Yet there is nothing lining the expanse but simple sub 10 element block puzzles.
Manifold Garden isn't a puzzle game its an art exhibit. The puzzles are seemingly easy so anyone could solve them and get back to gawking at the next set piece. As Polygon's Nicole Carpenter said, "I often feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, but I never feel despondent or troubled by that confusion." Puzzles so simple they solve themselves without thinking. I wonder if Manifold Garden would be better if it was more like Nassinance and simply let the player explore the environments with no puzzles? Is that the worst critique you can levy at a puzzle game, that it would be better with no puzzles? That the game would be better if it had no gameplay? That the game doesn't wanna be a game?
bonito
Magical game
Cozy puzzle architecture showcase.
Really want to dive back in again for secrets.
Cozy puzzle architecture showcase.
Really want to dive back in again for secrets.
Puzzles went back and forth between fun and tiresome. Overall average puzzler.
This is an awesome game, it just wears my brain out and makes me a bit motion sick so I couldn't really finish it. Would still recommend it though!
Absolutely stunning world and mind bending physics. Puzzles felt satisfying, never too challenging.
I love that this game has zero text or voice narrative. It is all visual and audio experience with wonderful puzzle design.
The infinite nature of the levels never ceased to amaze me. Portal has situations where you can fall infinitely, but I've never experienced anything like this.
I love high-concept puzzle games and this is one that commits completely to its vision and executes perfectly. This feels like a "AAA" game to me.
Extra bonus points for a wonderfully realized and free-upgrade PS5 version.
The infinite nature of the levels never ceased to amaze me. Portal has situations where you can fall infinitely, but I've never experienced anything like this.
I love high-concept puzzle games and this is one that commits completely to its vision and executes perfectly. This feels like a "AAA" game to me.
Extra bonus points for a wonderfully realized and free-upgrade PS5 version.
I'm a sucker for puzzle games. I've been wanting to play this since it first came out, but hadn't brought myself to it. I felt like I really needed to be in the perfect mental place for it, and I'm glad I played it in the best mindset possible.
This game is just jaw-dropping. Even after having followed the game's development for years, I wasn't ready to experience anything close to this. I was somewhat disappointing when I read this game doesn't have any story, but after playing, I really don't feel it doesn't need one. It's a pure aesthethic experience where the visuals and gameplay speak for themselves. Like Tetris, it's an experience that only works as a video game, and even more so as the game really pushes what impossible geometry and virtual exploration can do for you.
Playing this really felt like the first time I played Fez or Portal. The level design is just a f*g masterclass. I'm amazed at how really well integrated everything is. It is notably visible this was made by someone with a degree on physics. It's really beautiful not just because of the art style, but also due to the geometry's own language: symmetry, height, width, depth. The music is also a great companion; the UI is so elegant, and the controls are simple enough to submerge you into the world.
I really recommend this game, and I hope William Chyr makes another game, whatever that may be.
This game is just jaw-dropping. Even after having followed the game's development for years, I wasn't ready to experience anything close to this. I was somewhat disappointing when I read this game doesn't have any story, but after playing, I really don't feel it doesn't need one. It's a pure aesthethic experience where the visuals and gameplay speak for themselves. Like Tetris, it's an experience that only works as a video game, and even more so as the game really pushes what impossible geometry and virtual exploration can do for you.
Playing this really felt like the first time I played Fez or Portal. The level design is just a f*g masterclass. I'm amazed at how really well integrated everything is. It is notably visible this was made by someone with a degree on physics. It's really beautiful not just because of the art style, but also due to the geometry's own language: symmetry, height, width, depth. The music is also a great companion; the UI is so elegant, and the controls are simple enough to submerge you into the world.
I really recommend this game, and I hope William Chyr makes another game, whatever that may be.
brain hurty
Interesting puzzle game that hasn't really stuck to my memory. In my opinion it's not worth the asking price, but it is worth a buy when it goes on sale if this type of game seems interesting to you.