Antimatiere
In the land of the blind, one eye is king. Same can be said for the only three-dimensional being in a flat world. But old one-eye lacks depth perception. You, in contrast, can alter reality itself. And all it requires is changing the wallpaper in the first-person puzzle game Antimatiere, created by a group of French video game and interactive media students, Team Antimatiere (Francois Kmetty, Thomas Planques, Joel Gueulin, Robin Poma, and Marie Muller) which took home first place in Kongregate's recent Unity game design competition. Something awfully scientific goes awfully wrong, according to the opening sequence. Scientists, explosion... you get the idea. Then we are in the head of our hero, who upon speaking to the first two-dimensional character wiggling against a wall, learn that they are the only hope in a world thrown into dimensional disarray.
As it turns out, the mixing of dimensions sorta-kinda make you think of Minecraft in an abstract painting while you are standing on your head. The 3D world is divided into various areas, each hosting a few lateral puzzles. It all involves moving textures; apart from moving around the levels with [WASD] and the mouse, all you can do is exchange one texture for another. But this simple mechanism has surprising results. Place a door in the right place and it suddenly becomes an open door. Switch the signs above a door and it changes the room it leads to. Move a ladder and it... becomes a ladder somewhere.
Antimatiere is not deep. Most of the puzzles involve moving doors, ladders or bridges here and there, figuring out how along the way – all strictly linear. There is no pause menu, the game takes up a lot of screen space (you might have to set your browser to full screen) and at least once a game session ended prematurely because the character got stuck in the wall. Antimatiere needs a lot of polish, but it is also not quite anything you've ever played before, unless you are aware of some kind of 'stuck in two dimensions' genre. Antimatiere feels like a competition game – a concerted effort to be the most creative and interesting, which also leaves it with a lot of shortcomings, but a lot of potential, too. It's certainly an interesting ride on the way and maybe we'll see a more in-depth and polished sequel soon.
Walkthrough Guide
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Walkthrough
The Blue Room
Talk to the man.
Pick up the door on the wall to your right.
Place the door to the right of the man.
The Orange Room
Talk to the man.
Pick up the fax machine.
Swap the fax machine with the TV.
Pick up the fax machine and put it next to the man.
Talk to the man.
Pick up the door and place it next to the man.
Talk to the man.
Enter the blue room and pick up the door.
Place the door next to the table-and-picture tile.
The Hallway
Pick up the elevator doors from the floor.
Place the doors next to the potted plant.
The River
Talk to the janitor.
Walk through the gap on the left.
Turn around and pick it up.
Walk along the edge of the water, away from the janitor, until you hit the edge of the river.
Place the gap on the forest tile right next to the water's edge.
Walk through, turn around and take the gap.
Walk along the forest edge until you reach the river.
Use the gap tile on the forest tile next to the river.
Go through, walk along the forest edge and take the gap.
Walk to the edge of the river and use the gap on the forest tile.
Walk through the gap and head down to the bridge tile. Pick it up.
Walk back through the gap and continue on to the narrowest point of the river.
Use the bridge tile on the narrowest point of the river.
Walk down and pick up the second bridge tile.
Use both bridge tiles to cross to the ladder.
The Forest
Find the ladder tile, on the right behind the first ladder.
Fetch it, use it on the tile above the first ladder and climb up.
Find the ladder near the back left, use it and climb up.
Navigate past the thorns to the outside of the platform. Find the ladder on the edge, facing outwards from behind the middle pillar.
Take the ladder from the top of the pillar. Use it on the leafy platform parallel with the ladder location (but one panel lower).
Climb up and collect the second ladder. Use both ladders to climb up (opposite side to where you found the first ladder).
Top Of The Tree
Talk to the man.
Find the ladder on the ground and climb up the pillar.
Take the pylon tile in the middle of the tree surface.
Climb onto the pylon wires and walk to the steel structure.
Replace the pylon tile with the gashed tile in the middle of the steel structure.
Walk back to the tree and use the tile on the spot you found the pylon tile.
Drop down.
The Train
Talk to the train driver.
Take the drinks sign from the wall.
Place it above the door.
Enter the new room, turn around and take the door.
Use the door on the enclosed area to the side.
Enter the room, pick up the door inside and use it on the spot you placed the previous door.
Pick up the vending machine and leave the enclosed area.
Swap the doors to re-enter the driver's compartment. Place the vending machine next to the driver.
Talk to the driver.
Place the passenger sign above the door. Enter the passenger cart.
Locate the chest luggage.
Take the chest luggage and place it nest to the other chest luggage.
Return to the driver's compartment and talk to the driver.
Remove the sign above the door.
Enter the new room, turn around and take the engine room sign.
Return to the driver's compartment and use the engine room sign above the door.
Enter the new room and walk over the white space.
The Towers
Lean closer and land on a tower.
Climb through the washing machine.
Posted by: James Francis
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March 23, 2011 5:35 PM