Manipulated, a short puzzle-platformer where you need some brains

Manipulated [Steam] is a short puzzle-platformer that warns you about having to think. It's certainly not wrong.


While it's not overly difficult, I wasn't prepared to do the kind of thinking it wanted me to do. It's about logic, maths and sometimes a little geometry so I hope you payed attention at school. You will be working out key combinations, based on clues given to you which aren't always as simple as they might first seem, as some of the level design is really quite clever.

The real problem with the game is the boss battles and the actual platforming controls. The platforming mechanics are pretty weak, which doesn't help with combat. The majority of my time in the game was spent getting annoyed at the boss battles, which is a shame.

Visually it looks very simple, but it works for it. The cartoon style soft colours with the silly theme give it a real charm that I couldn't not love.

It sprinkles in humour as you go, which was a nice touch and I certainly needed it to keep me going. While I enjoyed some of the humour, some of it was way off. Like when the robot suddenly sings "barbie girl", I cringed.

If you like platformers that make you think, be sure to give it a go and let me know what you think. I think the presentation was fantastic for a game that looks so simple, the little devil it is. Just a shame about the pants combat. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.