Supergroups may be a relatively common phenomenon within the music industry, but they seem somewhat less impactful within video games. Yes, the fantastic collaboration between Yoko Taro and Platinum Games may have brought us the wonderful NiER Automata, but on the other hand Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games exists, to the sighs and raised eyebrows of the majority of seasoned gamers. However, two mobile developers are looking to release a puzzle game that fits firmly in the former category, and PUSH shows all the good signs of a strong amalgamation of respective talents. Sporting a slick minimalistic graphical style that is reminiscent of the stunning aesthetic that Perchang ($1.99) nailed down last year, PUSH takes the abstract wonder of Maciej Targoni’s Hook ($1.99) and Klocki ($1.99) titles and combines them with the atmospheric complexity of Michal Pawlowski’s Zenge ($1.99) and Art of Gravity ($0.99) to great effect, and is set to launch on the App Store in late October.
If you have watched the announcement trailer for PUSH above, you may be wondering what you’re actually meant to do amidst the opaque symbols, buttons and geometric shapes. It’s true that the developers have remained tight-lipped over what is required within PUSH, but the mystery of how the puzzles must be solved beyond the titular command is a significant part of the appeal of the game for me. The sheer variety of the buttons that can be pushed, from what appears to be calculator inputs to completely incomprehensible squiggles and lines, suggests a strong base for puzzle variety within the game, and the strong developer pedigree behind PUSH makes me feel like these mechanics will be both intuitive and immersive upon actually playing the title. PUSH is set to launch the App Store in October, but until then be sure to push (not pull) open the metaphorical door to our forums and let us know your impressions on the game’s pre-release thread.
