This is Niche Spotlight. In this column, we regularly introduce new games to our fans, so please leave feedback and let us know if there’s a game you want us to cover!

Today’s article is about Semblance, a rather unique little 2D indie platformer by Nyamakop and Good Shepard Entertainment.

The concept of Semblance is that it’s a puzzle-platformer where the puzzles are the very platforms you use to navigate the world. Semblance takes place in a soft, malleable world where you can use your character’s body to bend and deform the environment’s platforms to overcome obstacles.

Bend ceilings to block laser hazards, create craters in the floor to avoid enemies, or turn walls into massive slingshots to fly over gaps on your quest to heal your world from a bizarre, crystalline corruption. You can find the original launch trailer above.

Semblance is currently available on Windows PC, Mac (both via Steam, GOG, and Humble Store), and Switch for $9.99.

Here’s a rundown of the game:

Semblance is an innovative platformer with deformable terrain, set in a beautiful minimalist world. It’s a game that asks, what if you could deform and reshape the world itself? Semblance takes the idea of a ‘platform’ in a platformer and turns it on its head. What if platforms were actually part of the gameplay, part of the way you solved problems?

Explore a world where the default is soft, where the property of ‘hardness’ doesn’t exist. Each of the game’s three worlds explore a new consequence of a planet that can shift, change and deform. Beat back the strange, crystalline infection of hard material by freeing the world’s life essences and uncover the dark cause for its appearance

Key Features:

• Unique and innovative deforming platform gameplay:
  Can’t reach a collectible? Just deform and elevate a piece of the ground so that the point you jump from is higher. Nasty spikes in the way? Just deform and push-down the ground lower so that you can pass by. Squish, bounce, squash and transform the world- and yourself to solve problems.
• Beautiful Minimalist Aesthetic Design:
  Explore 3 worlds bursting with colorful minimalist charm, quirky critters, and calming vistas. Become hypnotized by each world’s dynamically layered score, each with a hint of African aural distinction.
• Explore non-linearly
  The game allows you to move between puzzles as you wish, never forcing you to find a solution in order to progress and enabling you to come back later. Similarly, the game’s narrative is presented expansively, allowing you to explore- and piece together the story for yourself as you roam the game.

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