Thirteen1: Free Video Games Magazine

Written By: DrunkenGamer

Have you ever had the feeling that you are the centre of the universe? That the very world itself revolves around you?

In that case, I think I have just the game for you!

And Yet It Moves – the first title released by Austrian indie studio, Broken Rules – is one for all you egomaniacs out there, as the game literally involves moving the world around yourself.

Set in a world where everything, including yourself, is made of torn up and sketched on pieces of paper and card, your goal is a simple one – get to the end alive. However, as with all the best puzzle games, that very simple concept is far more difficult than it sounds.

Your first taste of the world-spinning mechanics come in the form of very simple puzzles. Turning the world to make a once unscalable cliff into a platform, spinning it completely to put yourself on a roof, or giving it a slight twist while mid-jump to change where you land.
It’s not long before the puzzles start to involve other elements of the world itself. For example, you will find yourself turning the world to make an obstruction fall into oblivion under the effects of the new direction of gravity.

You are not the only one travelling around the paper world of And Yet It Moves, and you will occasionally find yourself having to aid/use the occupying animals to solve puzzles, from cave bats to monkeys. In the later levels you will even find yourself having to control a mirror image of yourself, who goes left when you go right (etc.), who you also have to get to a goal.

Sounding messed up? Well frankly it is, but in the best possible sense of the term. Like LIMBO before it, this little indie gem aims to prove that you don’t need million dollar budgets or a recognised brand attached to your game to make it a success.

Give us solid gameplay and, even when the world confuses and frustrates us with its puzzles, we will sit there and work through them. There are no cheap tricks in And Yet it Moves, no enemies that seem to be able to kill you instantly, no rubber-banding second place. If you die in this game there is only one thing to blame – yourself!
You clearly did something wrong and it’s up to you to work out what, and the satisfaction of doing so is well worth the effort.

Even when you have made it through all the 4-5 hours of the main challenge, there is a whole pile of extra content to enjoy. There are bunch of unlockable competitive modes, including time trial and speed run modes that see you setting the fastest time or getting to the end of a level before the time runs out.

However, the two best modes are Survival and Limited Rotations. In Survival the game becomes even harder, as unlike before you only have a single life, so no more taking that risky jump that would kill you 50% of the time. Likewise, Limited Rotations increases the difficulty, but this time by limiting the amount you can twist the world, meaning you have to make sure every turn counts.

Overall, this game will eat away at hours of your time and leave you wanting more. The simple yet challenging gameplay is enough to keep even the most hardened gamer happy for quite some time. The version I played for this review was the WiiWare version, available now at 1000 Points (approx £7) and it is worth every point. If you do not have a Wii then check out the Steam version, as even without the motion control of the Wiimote its still well worth a play.

And Yet It Moves becomes the second indie title of the year that looks set to make a appearance in my top 5 games of 2010.