Letting you carve out bubbles of time, solving puzzles in 42 Light Years is a matter of sending objects and characters in the world into a state of time in either the past or future to progress. A broken bridge preventing you from crossing a chasm? Reverse it to a time when it was brand-spanking new. Cliff too high to climb? Age a tree till it topples and forms a bridge. Milk gone off and you can’t be bothered to go to the shops? Reverse that mother into a tea-complimenting state.
As is the way with these things, Huxi Games puzzler has taken to IndieGogo to fund the development of its temporal puzzler.
Though they’ve not gone overboard on the target, only asking for $9,000 to complete development. And, with $2,500 already in the bank, and 17 days left on the clock/calendar/timepiece it looks like they’ll reach their goal.
Besides the central mechanic, the music and art style of the game are both ticks in the plus column. The simple block colours is eye-catching and lends the world a mythic quality, a little like this 50s advertising posters – the ones which represented a better version of the world we live in.
One concern for the game that does pop to mind is that the puzzles shown in the video aren’t exactly puzzles. They’re more, walk till you meet an obstacle > circle it in a bubble > find what space in time it solves obstacle > progress. Hopefully there’s more to 42 Light Years besides a good idea and good presentation.