| Developer | Pillow castle |
| Platforms | PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, MORE |
| Genres | Puzzle video game |
| Released | Nov 12, 2019 |
| Mode | Multiplayer video game |
Superliminal is a narrative puzzle game with a unique perspective-based mechanic that only gets more abstract and trippy the further in you get. The gameplay is a series of puzzles based on the dream-like mechanics of forced perspective. You can pick up an object, move it to another part of the room, and based on the perspective of where you place it, it can grow or shrink in size. It’s really clever, and completely mind-bending at times.
I’m so fascinated by how this could be made, how do you code this? Absolute wizardry! The levels are incredibly well-designed. Each puzzle is relatively short but presented in such a way that often it can take a while to wrap your head around what you actually need to do to proceed. Every time you solve a puzzle you get this feeling of wonder when things behave in ways you weren’t fully expecting. It constantly changes things up, introducing new ways to use the forced perspective mechanic and keeping you guessing. It messes with your head wonderfully and I cannot get enough of it.
It’s taken a lot of inspiration from games like Portal and The Stanley Parable in both visual design and tone. I can say confidently that if you enjoyed either of those games this will be right up your street. Like both of them, it is also relatively short, taking between an hour and a half to two hours to complete. I have seen a lot of complaints that it is too short but I think the mechanic would definitely have worn thin and become too repetitive if it was much longer. It knows what it wants to do and I think the length of the game is pretty much perfect for that.
The levels are also full of little secrets and collectibles. Finding all of them isn’t going to change much about the game itself, but if you’re the sort of person who loves to scour every level for easter eggs then you will have a good time in Superliminal. I think I only found one or two of these myself, but then I managed to completely miss a really obvious side path near the start of the game which, judging by the achievement data on Steam, everyone else tried to go down.
There are some downsides to the game that I need to address. Do not play if you have light-sensitive epilepsy. There is a warning at the start of the game and there definitely are a few sections of the game that feel like they could trigger a seizure. If this warning is only due to these very few, very short sections then it is a shame that the developers haven’t created an option to change the visuals in those sections to make it accessible. The game also warns not to play if you have mental health conditions such as derealisation or depersonalization due to the dream-like, questioning reality aspect of the game so do bear that in mind.
There are also some parts of the game that are rather stressful. I want to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible but there is a ‘nightmare’ section that I found a little intense. This section certainly didn’t ruin the experience for me, far from it, but it does mean that, unfortunately, I can’t give Superliminal the Chill Out Seal of Approval. It is a fantastically made game with a beautiful message and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys having their perception of reality tested a little bit. Thank you so much for reading.
