Superliminal

I think I first saw Superliminal many years ago as someone showcasing cool tech in a YouTube video. They announced it was going to be a game, and I'd been looking forward to it since. It was such a cool-looking demo after all.

Superliminal is something between a puzzle game and a walking simulator. Your goal is to find the exit in a series of levels, but that exit may not be present or not possible to reach at first glance. The main trick is playing with perspective. Once you pick up an object, it is fixed to your camera, so the 2D representation of it stays the same size. However, depending on where you move it, the object can increase or decrease in size. So if you look at it just the right way, a small die may well be big enough to fill the gaping hole between you and the exit. There are a few other perspective and visual tricks as well, but I won't spoil what they are, as some are not widely re-used through the game. This perspective-based reality manipulation is something that can only exist in a video game, and I think that is the main reason Superliminal feels so amazing at first.

However, I feel the game fell a bit flat in terms of execution. It almost still feels like a tech demo that was shoehorned into a game. There was a narrative placed in, and the environments were made to mean something, and the whole thing ends in a flourish and tries to leave some inspiring message. I don't know, it just didn't hit me that hard. The novel mechanics quickly become tiresome, and the main challenge becomes looking around the enviornment for something interactable. It often feels less like a puzzle and more guessing what the developer wanted you to do.
For better or worse, the game was only a few hours long. It wasn't too long, so the mechanics didn't actually start to bore me, but then again, it wasn't long enough to make me feel like I properly got to play the game. I do feel like there was potential for a more full-fledged puzzle game instead of just showcasing each trick a few times and then calling it a day, but that didn't seem to happen.

Overall, I'd say I enjoyed the game, but rather barely. I would definitely encourage anyone to try it, because it really is a unique experience that you won't find anywhere else, but be warned that it won't last very long, nor will you probably want to it to last any longer. I'm just barely giving Superliminal a spot in my favorite puzzle games list. If you're looking for something similar but more fleshed out, I think Antichamber is worth a try. Honestly, I've mostly forgotten it since it's been so long, but that has so far been the top reality-bending game.