Circa Infinity | Nintendo Switch Review

What's white, black, and red all over? Reddeer's "Circa Infinity"!!! This perplexing platformer puzzle of a game that is definitely not a newspaper holds no hands as you start your playthrough. There's no tutorial, and beyond the humanoid figure falling into the circular abyss there's not much else disclosed. Lucky for you I figured it out fairly easily. Circa Infinity is definitely a play on it's namesake. It features circles within circles with pie shaped slices slightly detached. These pie shaped slices act as flipping entry points for the outside walking humanoid. A way to fall further down into the depths of wherever the hell it is you're going, and it might in fact be hell considering the dangerous red demons you encounter along the way.

As you descend ever inward from a top-down point of view you will eventually reach a checkered blackhole which will carry you even deeper, and by named chapter. You start off at chapter 1, "The Beginning", and progress to other chapters that are home to even more difficult to traverse abysses. The challenge that follows comes not only from trying to position the humanoid to flip inward, but also in trying to flip into the next circle's smaller floating circle. As you do so you will encounter stationary, and moving demon's that will hinder that process. Making timing a factor in completion. Should you die by touching a demon you will restart on the recent outer circle. Your death is also tallied at the end of each chapter playthrough via a skull icon.

The path from chapter to chapter is linear, and progressively more difficult to complete. There are 50 puzzles in total stretched over several chapters. Each with added hazards, and more complex circle arrangements thrown in to increase the given challenge. This is all done to a thumping synth soundtrack which heightens the game's visually hypnotic sensation. After having completed a chapter in the game you do have the option to replay or go forward to the next chapter and set of challenges. This can be done by pressing the appropriate face buttons on your Switch after a death. Beyond that there's not much else to this game. It is, simply put, a perplexing and mind bending puzzle experience that is retro by design. 

The Verdict ...

For the simple yet complicated puzzle platformer experience that it is Circa Infinity is a fun time. It's the kind of game that makes you think while looking visually appealing, and sounding audibly impressive. I don't really have anything else, good or bad to say, about it otherwise, but perhaps a warning is in order. This is the kind of game that has the potential of messing with someone's eyes, especially if they are prone to having seizures. It's very hypnotic by design, and with the layers of rotating circles it can make your eyes dance a bit. If you're alright with that though, and are looking for an innovative new kind of puzzle with an abyss twist this might be your cup of tea.