Circa Infinity

Genre: Platformer / Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

Circa Infinity is an Arcade-style Platformer first released on PC in 2015, ported to mobile devices in 2016, and then ported to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2021. This game has players jumping progressively farther down in an ever-expanding series of concentric circles while trying to avoid enemies.

This game uses simple pixel art visuals with a three-color scheme (black and white with red enemies and hazards), yet despite the simple visuals, this is a surprisingly hypnotic experience thanks to the synchronized, repetitive, recursive nature of the game. This is backed by a repetitive synthesized soundtrack that works well for the game.

Much like the visuals, the gameplay here does a lot with a little. Players can only move left and right, flop down into a circle (if outside it), or jump up into the circle (in inside it), landing on the next circle inwards if they touch it. Yet, despite that limited move set, this game finds all kinds of interesting things to do with it thanks to the variety of enemies here, with enemies that stand still, enemies that move, enemies that fly, enemies that jump, enemies that fade into and out of the circle, and these are often presented in a synchronous way that can be distracting as players search for the right pattern to proceed. When players hit an enemy, they are merely bounced back to the previous circle and forced to retrace their steps rather than outright dying.

This is a really wonderful simple elegance, but it has one flaw, and that is perspective, since your controls are reversed when you’re at the top of a circle to keep things consistent, which can be extremely disorienting. The game’s awkward controls will lead to deaths just as frequently as a truly challenging puzzle or platforming challenge, which is frustrating in a game that is otherwise an impressive minimalist statement.

Still, even though the controls can cause you to mess up at times, death doesn’t last long, and Circa Infinity keeps things moving at a steady clip, making for some good, varied, and fast-paced Arcade-style Platforming. If you want a Platformer that’s a bit different, while giving some hypnotic visuals and simple but elegant gameplay, I’d definitely recommend you give Circa Infinity a try.

tl;dr – Circa Infinity is an Arcade-style Platformer that has players jumping further and further into concentric circles while avoiding enemies. The simple but hypnotic visuals are striking, and the simple but surprisingly varied and clever gameplay is engaging. It’s just a shame that the way the game messes with perspective causes control issues. Still, this is an excellent and unique game that does a lot with a little, and fans of Platformers should definitely give it a try.

Grade: B

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