Manifold Garden is an excellent puzzle game

[Montresor]

I'm a couple of hours into this game, and it easily a GOTY contender for me (keep in mind I am particularly passionate about puzzle games).

Here's a launch trailer: Manifold Garden Launch Trailer - YouTube

The game is similar to Portal, The Turing Test, and The Talos Principle. It's a first-person puzzle game that mostly involves manipulating cubes in the game world. But what makes Manifold Garden unique and fantastic is the following:

Think of the game world like a big cube. Typically, most people experience gravitational pull towards the "bottom" of the cube, when playing any video game. In Manifold Garden, you can change the gravitational pull towards any of the six sides of the cubes, and the game leverages this mechanic to help you solve its puzzles.

Reasons why the game are amazing (so far).

1. Clean, minimalist art style, with small splashes of colour. Performs and looks very smooth. Disclaimer: I'm playing the Series X version of the game.
2. Mind-bending geometry/architecture:
   1. The game world's architecture is built with its "gravity switching" mechanic in mind. You might be walking on a surface that appears to have a towering cathedral on the horizon. But to your left, you'll notice similar structures, that appear flipped on their side. The game intends for you to change gravity to walk alongside such structures. If you notice a structure is on its side, you might have to change gravity in order to walk alongside it. For various puzzles, you may need to change gravity just once, to walk "sideways", or maybe multiple times, to walk "upside down" or to walk "sideways" further down. Hard to explain, but I hope you understand.
   2. The game world is also built to be "infinitely replicating". It is hard to describe exactly what that means. But imagine you're on a floating platform that has a towering structure. If you look over the edge of the platform and look straight downwards, you'll see the same platform and towering structure. And if you were to fall down, you'd land on the exact same platform - not a different platform, but the same one you were standing on a few moments ago. If you look up, you'll see the same thing. And if you look forward, backwards, left and right, you'll see the same thing - the platform and structure are replicated throughout your screen.
   3. All of this makes for a game world that seems incredibly sophisticated and meticulously crafted.
3. Very satisfying puzzles. They're not too difficult, not too easy. Not too obtuse, and not too obvious. The game does an excellent job of teaching you how to solve its puzzles (without telling you exactly what to do).

 

[Sheepinator]

Nice. I have it installed, got it a while back by using one of those EGS coupons. Will be starting it soon. I was pleased to see it has good ultrawide support.

 

[Starlatine]

I tried it too, while i can see a lot of potential on how the mechanics can work, for some reason the bland artstyle and something about it didnt catch me
Maybe ill try later again with a different mindset

 

[nny]

I loved how it was a puzzle game that rewarded exploration, and just playing around in the environment. And it looks beautiful!

 

[Sylvestre]

wow I really like the art

 

[ThisOne]

Definitely on my list to try at some point. I followed the development of the game but kinda lost interest when it was released first on PC since it had originally been announced to be coming out on PS4 at the same time. It eventually did release on PS4 but I had kinda lost interest at that point for whatever reason. Still want to try it.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Looks like some Antichamber sequel

 

[HardTimesFamilyPride]

I loved it! The ending sequence was a really nice bookend on it as well. Def recommend (and def recommend going in "blind") if you like puzzlers and Escher style trippiness!

 

[Deleted member 33571]

It's a great game, with some really amazing moments, but I have mixed feelings on the puzzles themselves. It's perfectly content to introduce a new, extremely cool idea for just a puzzle or two and then drop it forever, which is great for pacing (and I do think the game is very well-paced and a good length, so maybe it's for the best), but as a result, things never get too tricky and some concepts feel hardly explored in depth. Compared to something like e.g. the Witness, which is completely exhaustive in its exploration of every mechanic, I ended up wanting a bit more. All of the "outdoor" and exploration-based puzzles are truly great regardless.
Anyway, it's on switch and I think every other current platform, more people should definitely play it, one of my favs of the year despite my minor complaints

 

[Baron Bliss]

By far my favorite puzzle game of the year! I had been watching it's development since the first trailer back in...2012? 2013? I love games that play with the ideas of impossible geometry and warped space and I gotta say it delivered on that promise and more! Please check it out if you think it looks interesting!

 

[two_headed_boy]

the bland artstyle

Click to shrink...

What the? Are you blind??

 

[Starlatine]

What the? Are you blind??

Click to shrink...

would be hard to post if i were
it's my opinion shrug. i dont like the minimalist style it went for. i'm not telling you to agree

 

[dimitri2401]

It's a great game, with some really cool ideas and a beautiful art style. I liked it a lot too.

 

[Stoze]

I guess I'll be the contrarian and say I was a bit disappointed in this after following the game for years. The puzzles are generally pretty rudimentary and don't feel like they meaningfully incorporate the whole "infinite mirror" effect surrounding the game most of the time. The aesthetic and concept is cool (not exactly unique since Antichamber kinda did both), but not cool enough to carry the rest of the game. There are a few really hard secret "puzzles" if you can find them, but they mainly act as a way to create a different route through the game, and the ones I attempted were more tedious than challenging.

Mirror Drop is a game that plays with similar concepts and is fantastic.

 

[Wouwie]

I played this a few months ago and it surprises me how little i remember of the puzzles (love puzzle games in general btw). It was solid and i had mostly fun while playing but it seemed somewhat forgettable gameplay/puzzle wise. And i had been really looking forward to this since its reveal.

So definitely not in the same league as The Witness, Portal 2 and The Talos principle for me.

 

[Transistor]

I remember seeing the trailer for this and thinking it looked amazing. Thanks for reminding me!

 

[Firima]

Game is gorgeous but the difficulty of puzzles drops off after Yellow and I just burned through each section thinking "that was it?"

Extraordinary architecture and environmental design, though; there's nothing like it.

 

[James Whiteneck]

Looks really neat, thanks for sharing.

 

[bic]

I kinda bounced off it after trying the demo. The infinitely replicating world threw me for a loop. Demo is very short though, so I'm willing to give it another try once I work through a lot of my backlog.

 

[Red]

Conceptually and visually, this is right up my alley. But it gave me terrible motion sickness. Many first person games make me viscerally uncomfortable nowadays, which is frustrating. I wish I could get into this game.

 

[kitler53]

I would also say I am passionate about puzzle games.

I'd say manifold garden was above average but it is not a GotY contender for me.

the game starts out great but there felt like a real lack of progression on the core puzzle mechanic in the second half of the game.

I'm no game developer but it felt like there is a lot more that could have been done with this concept but instead puzzles got a bit "samey".

still,.. I enjoyed my time with it. there are so few great puzzle games I'll appreciate what I can get.