The alpha, beta, and omega of games about?you guessed it?planets.
Planet Alpha is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most pure and sincere games I have played in quite some time. How" Because it doesn’t waste time trying to be anything it isn’t. Set on an unnamed planet, somewhere amidst the cosmos, the game is one that is deeply rooted in ideas of ambiguity. A war rages between the planet’s indigenous fauna and an army of machines, and the player doesn’t seem to have any part in it. They seem to be all alone in a world without humanity, and the reason they’re there in the first place is shrouded in mystery. All you know is that you’ve got to platform your way to safety.
What is Planet Alpha" Planet Alpha, for those who don’t know, is a 2D-inspired platformer developed by Team 17. It’s a puzzle game, and it places particular emphasis on environmental manipulation. There is no combat in the game. The player relies on either stealth, or puzzles when they encounter an enemy. It’s quite refreshing to play a game that doesn’t feel the need to feature mindless violence to at least some degree. Also, it helps that the player never actually intends to destroy the robots, and can’t harm any of the planet’s fauna. Planet Alpha is about escape, not colonization. It’s not concerned with displaying “237 enemies killed” at the end-game. It’s gentle, quiet, and warm. As the...