Physics-Based Skill Game 'Radium' Now Available For Linux, Frustrating But Fun

Radium was released for Windows on Desura last year. After getting greenlit for Steam earlier this month with a promise of a Linux version, it made its Linux début on Steam shortly after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DzD4z8rsAY

The game honestly doesn't look like much, and I might not have given it another glance if I hadn't gotten a Steam key from a bundle I bought almost a year ago and long since forgot about. I'm glad I gave it a chance though, because the game is good and addicting as heck.

Radium consists of 13 level sets; each containing 10 levels. For each level you complete, you get up to three blades of the classic radiation warning symbol, depending on how fast you complete the level. To unlock each subsequent set, you have to earn a specific number of blades. As you progress through the game, getting enough blades will get harder, so you'll have to nail the first levels to have any hope of making it to the end.

The controls are very simple, as you control two tractor beams positioned on the left and right side of the screen by pressing the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard. Activating one of these beams makes it pull on an orb you have to guide through the level, and the trick is to alternate between or combine the use of the beams to guide the orb through a series of challenges. In some of the levels there will be one or more "swirls" that causes the polarization of the tractor beams and the gravity to flip; making you have to quickly adapt to the change in order to keep up the momentum of the orb. When this happens, the orb will fall up instead of down, and the tractor beams will push on the orb, instead of pulling.

There are also many obstacles scattered throughout the levels. In the first levels, the main challenge is inertia, as keeping the ball moving fast enough to get that perfect score can be hard enough as it is. Gaining height can be even trickier, as it often requires both the build-up of speed and also some precise nudging of both tractor beams to get an upwards pull. This while also making sure your pull doesn't work against gravity or inadvertently pulls the orb into an obstacle. In some levels, only a small sphere surrounding the orb is lit, increasing the need to react quickly. As you get further on, some levels require you to activate the goal by moving through one or more squares, and this process often requires some precise manoeuvring. There are also more lethal obstacles, like spikes and spinning saw blades. Some of the saw blades even move, and getting past them as quickly as possible requires skills and a lot of practice.

I've put more than three hours into this game and completed 7 of the 13 sets. One of the things I really like about this game is that there is a lot of variation in the level design. There are small segments that have been reused in different levels, but so far it still feels like each level has its own unique flavor. There's also a good mix between speed levels, levels that require meticulous manoeuvring to activate squares or avoid obstacles and levels that have mazes you have to navigate your way through.

A minor criticism of the game is that because the cost of unlocking each new set is so high, it means that you'll eventually have to get a perfect score on most of the levels. This means that it might be hard for more casual players to even make it through more than a few levels of the game before giving in to frustration. If you don't mind this aspect of the game though, you might find that the game offers lots of very rewarding moments each time you perfect a particularly difficult level.

The game is developed using GameMaker: Studio, which is the same engine used for Hotline Miami, Risk of Rain and Gunpoint, and appears to work well on Linux.

Radium is currently only available for Linux from Steam, but I've sent the developer an email asking for DRM free options, as the Windows version is available on Desura. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.