Epopeia Games are serving up a double-bill of puzzlers today, with IIN and Goroons both launching today on Xbox. While Goroons covers the cutesy and co-op crowd, IIN is more of a stylish solo puzzle game, and it wants to massage your grey matter.
It’s the simple tale of a magical soul who yearns to play around with boxes. Your dream is to get a specific box to a portal that signals the end of the level. Okay, so it’s not Citizen Kane, but it’s a premise that’s worked for countless games in the past.
To get to the end of the level, you have several other boxes. You can inhabit those boxes and move them slightly, pushing them to move and jump. You can then hit switches, push down platforms and even reverse gravity so that the hero-box (companion cube?) can make it over the line.
It sounds simple, but watching the trailer on the official Xbox page, there’s a lot of intricacy and thought that’s gone into these levels. While Epopeia Games are shouting about how easy the achievements are (take note, Gamerscore hussies), it looks like levels are going to require a fair deal of thought.
We’re most smitten by the presentation. There’s a slightly isometric view and a CRT-style fuzziness to the whole thing that makes it feel quite warm and unusual, like you’re chucking blocks about in the background of a Fez level. There’s some lovely music in the trailers too, so IIN might send you into a sensory Zen state like the best moments of Tetris Effect: Connected.
Regardless, IIN is a budget puzzler, so it won’t require much investment. Regardless, we will be sure to let you know how it plays in a future review.
IIN is out now on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and starts at £4.19 from the Xbox Store, with a reduction to £3.77 for launch. You can also purchase it as part of an Epopeia Puzzle bundle alongside cube-based puzzle game Goroons for £6.69 (reduced to £5.35 right now). IIN is also out on PC through Steam.
Game Description:
“IIN is a relaxing puzzle platform game for you to play on the couch while conquering all achievements in a short amount of time. You are a soul who controls cubes, overcoming challenges to open and enter the portals, your true goal;” “About this game: You play as a wandering soul that takes control of cubes, and needs to bring the right one to the portal, dealing with many forces on the way. A relaxing and thought-provoking world The path of IIN is a journey of reflexion and self-knowledge. The calm pacing and the inspiring soundtrack sets the mood and pulls you into an immersive experience. A mix of physics and puzzle challenges All levels were designed to defy your mind and your perceptions, with smooth learning experiences so that you can eventually master this world. In this world of perception, you are free to explore and discover new ways to conquer each challenge. Face challenges based on the whimsical forces of the universe You have several ways to interact with shapes, natural forces and contrasting phenomena. Combine your abilities and puzzle-solving skills with your friends Two minds thinking better than one is a fact and is on your favor. You can join a friend for a full-on cooperative puzzle experience.”
