World Splitter (PC) Review

World Splitter is a really unique little puzzle platforming title. Its premise of multiple overlapping worlds that can be manipulated by player input feels pretty cool and offers up some surprisingly tough challenges. Indie puzzle platformers have saturated the market for a good long while but games of this particular ilk are actually pretty far in between with titles like Hue coming to mind. This game itself doesn't focus too much on personifying its protagonist or the worlds in which they reside and instead just hops straight into the gameplay. There are short cutscenes here and there that give the bunny-rabbit, anthropomorphic, Star-Lord-mask-wearing adventurer that is the protagonist(s) a motive and do deliver a little intrigue, but they exist purely to frame each set of levels rather than generate a narrative.

World Splitter is a really unique little puzzle platforming title. Its premise of multiple overlapping worlds that can be manipulated by player input feels pretty cool and offers up some surprisingly tough challenges. Indie puzzle platformers have saturated the market for a good long while but games of this particular ilk are actually pretty far in between with titles like Hue coming to mind. This game itself doesn't focus too much on personifying its protagonist or the worlds in which they reside and instead just hops straight into the gameplay. There are short cutscenes here and there that give the bunny-rabbit, anthropomorphic, Star-Lord-mask-wearing adventurer that is the protagonist(s) a motive and do deliver a little intrigue, but they exist purely to frame each set of levels rather than generate a narrative.

As aforementioned, completing levels ranks the players based on time, collectables and most interestingly on rotation percentages. That's right, rotate the world line too much and the overall level rank will decrease, meaning there is an optimal solution to each puzzle. Collectables come in a few flavours of small varmints. These little creatures can be rescued by manipulating the world. In some levels they only exist in one of the worlds, so some clever rotating is needed to get to them. However, while this is challenging and adds a lot to the gameplay, it is quite optional as levels that are too complex can be beaten by heading straight to the level exit. With this being the case it allows the game to be a lot more accessible than it first appears.

Interestingly there is also a local co-op mode. This mode is also really well fleshed out. One player can be on the mouse and keyboard while the other uses a controller or both can use controllers. In the co-operative mode the levels are far more complex right from the get go. This means there can be four simultaneous worlds intersecting, with two world lines to manipulate, each controlled by one player. Not only is it three worlds by default but overlapping the world lines reveals a fourth world that combines the colours of the two overlapping worlds. It's really quite magnificent for people who can play this mode, as there is essentially a whole second game in here! However, it's also a shame that these levels cannot be accessed and played by anyone who cannot play couch co-op at the moment.

Colour is the crux of the graphical design of World Splitter. Each world is a separate colour, making it easy to see at a glance which world the character is currently standing in and which obstacles are in which world. This reminds a lot of the aforementioned Hue. Each colourful world is also full of little background elements that do their best to accent the levels without distracting from the important world elements like ground and characters. The designs and animations on the characters are quite simple and their "sprites" are quite chunky but they do the job and have their own unique styling. The menus and interface elements are quite reminiscent of a phone game at times but they are also easy to use due to their use of large text, high contrast elements and easy to click elements. The colourful aesthetic and musical ambience provide a nice atmosphere to puzzle through with some nice "bloompy" tunes that range from a little annoying to excellent. It's a real treat.