Glyph, for the Nintendo Switch, is a 3D platformer game from indie games producer, Bolverk Games. Its advantage is that the idea is simple to understand but difficult to master as the level of complexity increases as the game progresses...

Glyph is a 3D platformer game from Bolverk Games

The game is set, initially, in a desert world, dotted about with platforms and structures. You play as a ball brought to life by a scarab beetle. While you are a beetle too you spend most of your time in your golden ball form. The beetle is there partly as an instructor who will guide you through the tutorial levels, but it also acts as the transition between levels, of which there are over eighty. As you progress through the game you are told the story of the world in which you find yourself.

You aim to traverse the platforms by bouncing across the divides and rolling across, up and over the platforms. Flight is controlled with the left joystick. Control feels very intuitive, and you can control the speed of the ball, even in flight, so if you look like you’re going to overshoot you can reduce your speed and change your trajectory. You can jump, smash the ground and even fly short distances when you eventually unlock these skills. There are enemies to fight, traps to avoid and cosmetics to collect.

You play as a ball brought to life by a scarab beetle

The right joystick allows you to rotate the world a full 360 degrees. Across the platforms, you will find a form of currency, jewels and keys to open warp gates which allows you to access the next level. You start in the desert world, your goal is to complete all levels, which will unlock the ancient temple, giving you access to even more worlds.

There are also secret worlds to unlock which changes the gameplay to a speed run, though I would get well acquainted with the core game before you venture into this. My advice would be to make sure that you pick up everything on the map as some levels require you to have a certain value in coins, keys or gems to access them.

The level designs are nice and there is a lot of variation between the levels to keep your interest up.

There are secret worlds to unlock

There are some settings to choose from. Under audio, you can choose the level of the master volume, the music, SFX and UI volume. Under game settings, you can alter the camera sensitivity and offset. You can invert both the horizontal and vertical and change the vibration settings. You also get a choice of English German and Danish languages.

There are hours of gameplay available, not least because you will die a lot as you learn the levels. If your scarab ball touches the sand/water you explode and restart the level from the beginning. This may sound annoying, but it is this level of frustration that will bring you back over and over as you work out the optimum route through the platforms. Throughout the game, the beautifully atmospheric background music remains calming even though your nerves will be on edge.

The game is graphically pleasant to look at with vibrant colours throughout and the control via the two joysticks feels very natural.

9

Charles Packer