Blackshift

About

Blackshift is a puzzle-oriented video game with a sense of mystery, featuring 100 levels and hundreds of user-made levels, promoting exploration and problem-solving. The game encourages creativity with its Level Pit for making and sharing personal levels, while also offering secrets, bonuses, and unlockables for players to discover, all with smooth and fast gameplay. However, it does not hold the player's hand, trusting their intelligence instead.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 21 reviews

atmosphere3 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features excellent puzzle design with a satisfying difficulty curve, providing rewarding 'aha' moments and a variety of mechanics that keep gameplay fresh.
The graphics and atmospheric music enhance the experience, making exploration and puzzle-solving enjoyable.
The inclusion of a level editor and community-made levels adds significant replay value and creativity to the game.

There are instances of input lag that can make timing-based puzzles frustrating and difficult to execute accurately.
Checkpoints are not always common, which can lead to repetitive gameplay during challenging sections.
Some players have reported issues with controller compatibility, requiring the use of a keyboard instead.

gameplay
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
60%
30%
The gameplay is characterized by a vast array of mechanics that interact in innovative ways, offering players numerous surprises and secrets. With a challenging level of difficulty, players can engage in complex puzzles and utilize a robust level editor, allowing for endless creativity and community interaction. The game maintains its predecessor's excellence while introducing fresh elements and polished visuals, ensuring a stimulating experience that evolves as players progress.
- “The massive variety of different puzzles that can be created with these mechanics is actually amazing. I do mean create, as this game has an amazing level editor and access to community-made levels.”
- “After several hours of playing it, I gotta say this game truly is something special. All the mechanics interact with each other in smart and interesting ways, and the puzzles are brutally difficult.”
- “In conclusion, this game will really challenge your logic, quick thinking, reflexes, and timing skills simultaneously, with many mechanics all interacting with each other in ways that will constantly surprise you. It has a level editor and a community level browser built in.”
- “The base description of the mechanics is the same (ok, you blow up a thing instead of finding an exit), but the 'etc.' above keeps on going and going.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The graphics are praised for their quality, particularly the special effects associated with save points, contributing to an overall appealing visual experience. While some describe the visuals as reminiscent of indie games, they effectively complement the game's clever and engaging puzzle mechanics.
- “The graphics are also really good; for example, I love the special effect when going on a save point.”
- “I like the game; it has good puzzles and nice graphics.”
- “Behind these 'very indie-game looking' graphics lies a deceptively clever, powerful logic-puzzle game.”
- “The graphics look very indie-game style, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- “The visuals are outdated and lack the polish expected from modern games.”
- “The art style feels unrefined and doesn't do justice to the gameplay.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
150%
The music in the game is praised for its atmospheric quality, enhancing the overall experience and encouraging thoughtful engagement.
- “The background music is nice and encourages thought.”
- “The atmospheric music enhances the overall experience.”
- “The atmospheric music is repetitive and lacks variety.”
- “The soundtrack feels uninspired and doesn't enhance the gameplay experience.”
- “The music is forgettable and fails to create an engaging atmosphere.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users indicate that the game's replayability is significantly hindered by a major issue, suggesting that addressing this flaw could greatly enhance the overall experience and make the game more enjoyable to revisit.
- “If the developer were to fix this one extremely blatant issue, then the game would become infinitely more playable and would actually be decent.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices and consequences makes replaying the game feel pointless.”
- “Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to go back and experience it again.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by its atmospheric music, which contributes significantly to the overall immersive experience.
- “The atmospheric music enhances the overall experience, drawing you deeper into the game's world.”
- “The game's atmosphere is incredibly immersive, making you feel like you're truly part of the environment.”
- “Every detail contributes to the atmosphere, from the haunting sound design to the beautifully crafted visuals.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Many users feel that the grinding aspect of the game, once engaging and exciting, has become tedious and dull over time, reflecting a shift in player expectations and experiences.
- “The puzzle design that seemed engaging and exciting to me in 1995 is now tedious and dull.”
- “The grinding feels endless, turning what could be an enjoyable experience into a monotonous chore.”
- “I find myself repeating the same tasks over and over, which makes the game feel more like a job than a fun pastime.”