Indie Game Corner: Closure

Ever been scared of the dark?  It's common fear for the young, and even some of us as adults retain the fear.  Humans are, usually, creatures of the day, and we are used to seeing everything there is to see.  In the darkness, we are surrounded by uncertainty and the unknown, and the unknown is instinctively met with fear.  The game Closure plays on this fear of the darkness, but in a very unusual way; even with darkness surrounding you, you see everything there is to see.

Closure is a self-declared platform game, and it could easily said that it is a puzzle game.  The game also feels, at least to me, to have an almost survival-horror feel to it, all thanks to darkness.  In the game, the entire game revolves around manipulating light and darkness; such manipulation is important because anything that is not lit, does not exist.  Knowing this, it's easy to understand the puzzle and platform elements, but what about the survival-horror vibe I feel permeates this unique indie game?  In many levels you do not directly control how the light moves, leaving you feeling somewhat helpless as the only soul in a dark, unlit world.  Should you leave the soft and safe glow of the light (or rather if it should leave you), the only thing that awaits is a plunge into the stygian abyss, falling forever toward an unlit bottom you will never hit.

With the darkness that consumes every level, you enter each challenge mostly blind to what needs to be done.  However, the creators of this game clearly put a great deal of thought into their level design; it is hard to describe adequately, but once you play the game, you may begin to realize how the developers shaped and placed the terrain so that you never feel cheated.  Every failure I have suffered has either been a result of rushing to an action or poor control on my part. At the end of each level, the greatest rewarded is the feeling of accomplishment as I step through the door to the next level, though occasionally I get to reflect on a newly lit level with beautiful set-pieces illuminated to show the some dark mysterious world that, in the glow of the lamp-light, is less scary than when I stared.

-Shadowmage