Many gamers have their preferences of favorite overall game genre. Puzzle and strategy games are the kind of games that lure me in. WitchWay lured me in recently, and I have to say it did not disappoint. This fun explorative puzzle maze game was a pure delight to play.
The game starts with a polished start screen. The menu is clean, and the music and effects are made in a way that compliments the game experience. You fall into a large complex. How you fell here is not explained, but no matter you survived the fall! The level around starts simply enough, and you start to learn the mechanics by moving obstacles around and obtaining a wand that gives you better access to moving particular objects at each level. Instead of a simple linear progression, you are given choices on the doors and direction you travel to continue your climb up the complex to get out. There are guides on the wall that try to tell you where you are and potentially were some secrets are as well. The level map feels like a throwback to the Super Nintendo game Super Metroid and seeing the level you must determine your path out of this area. As you progress, the puzzles and dangers increase, and you then start being more careful about where you jump and think about how to get past individual rooms. The levels are designed so well, including some fantastic ways a place you think are done with comes back with an added layer once you have progressed further. I enjoyed this game and encouraged others to play it as well. Unfortunately, the planned sequel for this game has been shelved for the time being. Perhaps if we show enough support, we can get it back on a roadmap!
Indie Game Development is hard; it takes a lot of time and focuses on detail. You are not a team of sixty separated by departments. In Witchway’s case, it was only four people. Their dedication is shown in the result of this game’s fantastic polish. It is also not too big of a commitment as the game can be completed in roughly two and a half hours.
Experience and Controls
Something I did not expect when I went into this game, would be how focused the developers and the audio engineer were. When you land in water, you get the splash audio and effect visually. Running around with some water on the ground, you get the subtle kick back sound of walking in the puddle. When you go on to the stone, you hear the footfalls of stone. As you enter rooms, the visual colors and timing of the music have been tuned to draw in the player. I had planned to play this game in intervals, but I had ended up powering through this game and realizing it was almost two in the morning. Transitions and game mechanics are done very well. There is a learning curve and figuring out how to reach and finding what does work to progress you forward and when something is blocked because you have not entirely solved the puzzle.
The controls are friendly, even on the keyboard. This game supports the gamepad as well. Which in hindsight, maybe I should have done because I do not know how many times I had tried to throw the wand magic diagonally. There is not an overabundance of controls to be aware of when you play. It is just the arrow keys, X, C, and sometimes R. Because you were not challenged with doing both commands at the beginning of the play, the game’s progression of introducing elements had you feel confident in your ability to execute.
Guided Progression and Replayability
The guided progression can sometimes be annoying in games, those in which the games feel like you are locked out of progress because of just game reasons feel disconnected. WitchWay’s subtle progression of difficulty and introduction to new elements are timed nicely and do not feel like a progression lock that would get you frustrated. The game’s approach to teaching without beating it over your head was delightful. It let me struggle and give me clues to help me solve puzzles without just giving it away with any “Need A Hint” popups.
The progression never reset, and if you did die in the game, you were not sent to a flashy game over screen and had a restart screen. Instead, you pick up close to where you died and continue. It never lets the player think they can just quit and leave. If there is ever a level, you feel you messed up on or want to restart, and you can press R and restart the room to see if you missed something like potentially that secret bunny that you should rescue on your way out of the level.
Fun Puzzles and Exploration
The puzzles in the game range from easy to more complicated experiences as you progress. For instance, it can be a box that you move to a corner to jump up on a ledge. To more elaborate, shifting of pillars to get to where you need to go. The puzzle mechanics are all similar to ones we have played in the past with titles like Zelda. Keep the box on the switch, redirect the laser, move the box to reach the ledge. But the fun part is controlling the boxes with your magic and determine what the level is telling you. Or what is preventing you from seeing all, there is to see in a room. There might be the intentional level placement that is hiding your ability to understand the entire puzzle, thus causing you to try different things and then try again once you learn more about what is getting you in the right direction. Oh, and do not let the laser hit you.
As puzzles get more complicated along with the sound design as you explore the levels and go up higher and try to see what the next move is, the levels themselves change to show off visually your progression. You go from simple boxes, and stone floors to thorn infested grass rooms and purple outlined boxes that prevent your magic boxes from moving. As you explore, you learn more and more about the environment and what you should do and what you should stay far away from inside each room. From finding locked rooms that need that unique key to water cans and secret bunnies, the environment helps clue you in on what is critical to progress. Making the exploration of each level fun.
Graphics and Hook
The game graphics where pixel-based, but with enough fidelity, you can discern the character’s appearance. The environment and animations are done wonderfully. When you take control of a block, it lights up and gives the player feedback that they are in control. The color choices and design direction helped the player know what was going on without having to overwhelm with a complicated tutorial. The color change as you increase the level. The contrast in colors helps in identifying essential elements or objects. This game is designed carefully, and that detail is appreciated by myself and gamers everywhere.
The entire game felt retro-like Zelda A Link to the Past and had me hooked after I started playing it. Like I stated earlier, I was up until two in the morning playing this game. I was looking for every bunny, every secret, and wanting to win but also not make the game go too fast. I enjoyed the game very much and hoped for the creators to create its successor eventually. There are many ways to add more to the second game that jumps off from where this one leaves you, like adding a co-op feature like portal 2, more levels, and more puzzles. But until then, I highly encourage you to play this game and experience it for yourself.
Thank You
Go on and check out the work at https://gleeson.itch.io/witchway and support these fantastic indie developers. Help fund new projects from them, their ability to make fun levels and sound design is something we need more of in indie games and even the more well known AAA games. The second WitchWay has been shelved for now. There is still plenty this team can offer and especially with the support of the community behind them.
Thank you again for checking out this post, and if you found it helpful, please share it with others online. It helps me to continue writing for these amazing developers and hopefully find an unexpected treat for gamers looking for something new.