Timeline is an indie stealth puzzle game by Urnique Studio that recently came to the Nintendo Switch. I was able to play it on the Switch and though the puzzles were very challenging, I found myself unmotivated by the lack of story for the game.
This game looks good and plays well. The graphics are very basic but effective in letting you clearly see your goals. It’s easy to tell where switches you need to activate are and the controls are easy once you get used to them. I did appreciate how very easy it was to make time go forward and backward on the Switch, it made it really easy to pinpoint exact moments you wanted something to happen. Everything translated well to the Switch and I had no problems with being able to effectively play the game.
I was a little disappointed in the music for this game. It’s not a bad soundtrack, but it’s so chill I can play this game with no sound and not feel like I’m missing anything. I’m glad that it isn’t outright annoying, but something to make it stand out a little more would have been nice.
My main issue with the game is the lack of real story. We follow a girl who wakes up in a strange dimension, acquires time manipulation powers, and has to escape from robots pursuing her. Eventually you get a cat companion that you can also control. But no real explanation is given for anything as there is no dialogue. It just would have been nice to feel motivated to continue playing the game when the puzzles got extra difficult. Like maybe you’re looking for clues about what’s going on as you escape, or some internal dialogue from the girl that explains any part of what’s going on. If you’ve picked up this game simply to play some puzzles that this is going to be a non issue for you, but for me I like playing games for story so to lack one is a problem for me.
Overall, this game wasn’t to my taste, mainly because I really dislike stealth games. But I can recognize a well made game when I see one. I give this game a 7/10, while it lacked a story and interesting music, the ease of controls and challenge of the puzzles made it worth playing for those that enjoy stealth puzzle games.
