Tag Archives: The Bridge

Features, tixfeatures

Puzzle Game of the Year

The year is coming to a close and so it’s time once again to take a look back at all the great games that have been released in 2015.

Every day up until the end of the year we’ll be revealing our top three games from a number of different categories, all the way up until the coveted Game of the Year reveal.

First up is Puzzle Game of the Year.

Third place – Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse

The Kickerstarter funded fifth title in the Broken Sword series returned fans to the point ‘n click adventures of George and Nico, with precisely the kind of visual enhancements you’d expect from a modern title.

Dave Moran said in his review:

it’s a great story that will see you travel the world.

And indeed this puzzle adventure title made a strong impression on us at TiX towers, so much so as to claim third place in out Puzzle Game of the Year award.

Check out the review here.

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Second place – The Bridge

Like an M.C. Escher picture brought to life, The Bridge offers plenty of mind-bending puzzles in a topsy-turvy world.

Richard Berry described it in his review as:

 Devious, beautiful and creative, The Bridge is an absolute joy to play.

and sure enough its devious challenge and eye catching design came close to taking first place in this year’s puzzle category.

Check out the review here.

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Puzzle Game of the Year – Pneuma: Breath of Life

Utterly gorgeous visuals and a deeply intriguing narrative make Pneuma: Breath of Life and breath of fresh air in the puzzler genre.

Phil described the visuals in his review as:

 …nothing short of phenomenal.

and goes on to say

By far the most surprising thing for me though, was the way the storyline develops into an existential questioning of the role of developer, gamer and character and deciding for yourself who controls who in the worlds that are created for our enjoyment.

Indeed it’s clever engrossing titles like this that deserve celebrating which is why we’re very  pleased to name Pneuma: Breath of Life our Puzzle Game of the Year.

Check out the review here.

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Well that’s our first winner revealed. Be sure to check out the site again tomorrow to see the next category and its winner.

Honourable mentions go to QUBE, Magnetic Cage Closed, The Fall, Stand Point and Spy Chameleon, all of which were nominated by the TiX team but didn’t quite make the cut.

Reviews, Xbox 360 Reviews, Xbox One Reviews

The Bridge review

As a child I loved to gaze upon the wondrous designs of M.C. Escher and imagine what it would be like to navigate the impossible worlds – how could you get from the top to the bottom, and what would happen if you entered that door? The time for wondering is over; The Bridge lets you navigate through Escher-esque worlds with increasing difficult puzzles to solve.

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Some games are an absolute joy to play and The Bridge is one of these games. Each level is hand drawn, and the black and white stills could easily be passed off as an Escher original. I really liked this artistic direction, which perfectly emulates the style of the artist they are based on, and being a fan of his work, playing within the wonderfully impossible illustrations was an absolute joy.

Your goal is to navigate the mind twisting architecture to progress through each puzzle. I’m sure there’s a deep and meaningful point as to why you are in this topsy-turvy world, but it completely passed me by and I didn’t mind in the slightest. The puzzles are so good that they don’t need a storyline to hang from.

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To move throughout each world you must rotate it around a central axis point allowing you to navigate through the impossible curves of the Escher landscapes, but don’t try and unravel them, it will only make your head hurt. Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity holds everything together and in later levels you can even manipulate its directional pull by entering a shower-curtained area called the Veil – it makes for some devious puzzles that will challenge even the most hardened puzzler.

Starting out simple, even when obstacles are thrown in, the puzzles are a breeze to solve but halfway through The Bridge thrusts you into a mirrored reality and this is where the real challenge begins! This reality is not only flipped, but also contains more obstacles to avoid – thankfully there’s a handy rewind feature, which you will certainly need! The standard world demands you make sense of the twisting landscapes, but to best the mirrored world you must focus on gravity and momentum.

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Once you have mastered both worlds, and believe me, it will take some patience, skill and thinking outside the box especially to get through the mirrored worlds – there are numerous achievements to collect, mainly focused on skill at completing levels. There are also several wisps to collect, which are really well hidden and if you refrain from any walkthroughs, then you will be scratching your head for a good while, but even after completing both worlds I was left wanting more from The Bridge.

Those that like a rounded achievement scores may be a tad frustrated at The Bridge – I’m looking at you Dave – the achievement scores are odd numbers, with the first unlocking for 47 GS.

Devious, beautiful and creative, The Bridge is an absolute joy to play. It lures you into a false sense of achievement when you conquer the early levels and then hits you with the hard stuff. If you can best these mirrored levels, then you can truly feel like you are the clever one!

Thanks to Xbox and The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild for their support

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News, Xbox One

The Bridge spans the Xbox divide

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It’s been out on Xbox 360 and Windows since 2013, but finally, the Escher-esque 2D puzzler The Bridge, has an Xbox One release date.

With a host of awards and nominations to it’s name, including the grand prize in the Microsoft Windows Store Unity Contest in 2012, The Bridge has already shipped over 500,000 copies.

In the game you have to manipulate gravity and revise your own beliefs on physics and perspective. Explore increasingly difficult worlds, each uniquely detailed and designed to leave you with a pronounced sense of intellectual accomplishment. There is also an alternative version of the game which is unlocked after the main storyline has been completed, including alternate versions of the main 24 puzzles, along with an alternate ending.

Don’t worry if you’ve made an error too, as you can take advantage of a time backtracking system to correct any mistakes.

The Bridge, looking all wonderful, will be available on the Xbox One on the 14th of August.

Xbox 360

The Bridge is Released on Xbox LIVE Arcade

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Midnight City, the indie label of Majesco has today launched The Bridge on the Xbox Live Arcade. The first console launch for the indie publishing super group, The Bridge brings a fresh take on physics games to the company’s ever-growing portfolio.

The Bridge offers a supremely cerebral 2D puzzle experience for those looking to bend their reality and perception of physics as they know it. Players join our stalwart, amnesiac protagonist through a journey into his heart, mind and soul to discover the life he’s forgotten. Throughout the story, players progress through detail-oriented, hand-drawn environments with aesthetics reminiscent of M.C. Escher’s artwork and style. In these fantastic puzzle rooms, players are asked to look beyond just the protagonist and into the world around them to solve each predicament. From the very start, The Bridge is designed to foster outside the box and critical thinking skills, leaving the player with a pronounced sense of intellectual accomplishment at the end of each level. Created to be both a stimulating experience and accessible game, The Bridge uses a minimalistic control scheme and effective, yet subtle tutorials through early gameplay to introduce new features.

On his journey, our protagonist explores all 360 degrees of reality and is challenged with varying puzzles that literally turn his world upside down. Puzzles present themselves through five chapters, each containing six puzzle rooms to test your skills. As an added bonus, players who complete the core levels can return to master mirror versions of all 24 original levels, essentially doubling the content adding a major replay factor. New features and conundrums continually evolve and present themselves, keeping gameplay fresh and perplexing to even the most experienced puzzler fans. Critical thinking is key to player progress and is not limited to just the environment; players will face off with “The Menace,” gravitational vortexes and parallel universes which add additional layers of content and strategy to this award winning title. Additionally, the rewind function lets players retry key moments in the game without having to reset the puzzle; a powerful tool that should not be underestimated.

The Bridge is available now, check your dashboards for pricing because I couldn’t be bothered to look!

Xbox 360

The Bridge coming to XBLA

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The Bridge focuses on bringing players into a new gameplay experience, beyond what they may expect from the usual puzzle game. Following in the footsteps of non-traditional titles like Braid and Limbo, The Bridge offers a uniquely cerebral approach to gaming. With detail-oriented, hand-drawn environments that resemble architectural design, more than level design, players are asked to look beyond just the protagonist and into the environment to solve each puzzle. The ability to control the world around the protagonist offers a plethora of options for strategically positioning both the character and the world to achieve success. Critical thinking is a key to player progress and is not limited to just the environment; players will face off with “The Menace,” gravitational vortexes and parallel universes adding twists for additional layers of gameplay in this award-winning title.

At its heart, The Bridge is a 2D logic puzzle game that forces the player to re-evaluate their preconceptions of physics and perspective through 48 increasingly-difficult levels. Created to be both an intellectually stimulating experience and accessible game, The Bridge uses a minimalistic control scheme so both gamers and non-gamers can easily jump in and enjoy. To allow for experimental efforts, the “rewind” feature allows players to travel back in time to critical moments in the problem-solving process for a colloquial “re-do.” From the very start, The Bridge is designed to foster outside the box and critical thinking skills, leaving the player with a pronounced sense of intellectual accomplishment at the end of each level. Players willing to take on the game a second time will be treated to a secret ending reserved for the most dedicated of players.

The Bridge was developed by game designer and programmer Ty Taylor and artist Mario Castañeda; together they are known as the Quantum Astrophysicists Guild.

The Bridge is rated E for Everyone and will release on Xbox Live Games Store on November 13th.

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