If you know zillix's games at all, then the surreality of odd little puzzle game juxtapose isn't going to come as much of a surprise. In it, you control travelers stuck on opposite sides of a mirror world with only a few strange devices to interact with. The [arrow] keys moves you around the small area, while the [spacebar] interacts with things, and holding the down [arrow] will cause whatever character you're controlling to rest and the world to rotate back to the other. Doing so causes the world to change subtly depending on the things you have or haven't done, and to uncover all of the game's thirteen endings you'll need to do some serious creative thinking, especially since the game's narrative and setting are more than a little disorienting. What if I... what if I put this thing... on that thing? And then do the thing to the... hmmmmm.
In a weird way, playing juxtapose reminds me of those French cartoons I used to stumble across when I was little back home in Canada... I'm not exactly sure what's happening, or why it's happening, but darned if I'm not intrigued. For some, the game might be a bit too vague... the text is extremely sparse and almost dreamy, and most of the endings you can get may just leave you more confused. For some of you, however, that's exactly the appeal of the whole thing. For such a small game, environmentally speaking, there are a remarkable amount of variables that can drastically change the way things are going for you, and experimenting with different combinations of actions is part of the whole point. Zillix has always experimented with their games, especially when it comes to mechanics and storytelling, and while juxtapose may be a little more obtuse than other games in both those areas, it's still a creative, appealingly weird little title well worth checking out for anyone who likes their games to try new things and show far more than they tell.
Play juxtapose
If anyone has trouble finding the endings:
Yeah, that's a bit TOO much work to get all those endings.
I'll take 2 two I worked out on my own.
Are you sure that is the right address? It appears to be broken for now.
The link loads fine for me. :)
Intriguing. Yet: I would LOVE a browser game where the mysterious missing beloved is a HE for a change.
*seconded* that's definitely long since gotten old...
Minor annoyances aside, I found 3 endings so far without any trouble (or really even knowing what I was doing haha). I don't want to spoil myself so I'm not reading what's at that link just yet.
Endings I've gotten, in case anybody cares:
I cannot even load the website homepage! Is this working for anyone on a Mac using Chrome?
You know what? I think this game, plus
needs a brand-new category (or tag, or whatever):
Here is a transcript of the linked walkthrough, in case anyone can't access it:
Nice game! I managed to find 12/13 endings without the walkthrough. The only one I missed was:
I like how some endings lead to changes in the world on subsequent runs. The mechanic of experimenting to discover things was a nice one, although it did become a bit tedious towards the end. The minimalist pixelart aesthetic, though a bit overused these days, felt appropriate to the thematic content here.
I didn't get it. I put an orb here, then one there and then I got Squander. Not sure what that meant and I didn't care because I had no real idea what was going on. Perhaps I was just to obtuse for this one. cheers!
I don't understand how to play, what's the goal, what kind of machines are there and what beings are moving. Some instructions please?
Update