[Review] Graviter - Nintendo Switch

Developed By: Emil Markiewicz
Published By: No Gravity Games
Categories: Puzzle
Release Date: 04.08.21

They took your cat, they’re missing in the deep, dark depth of space. They left you parts of a map to the galaxy though. Get those pieces and rescue your cat! That’s the story and context for the game Graviter. A game about changing planets and how their gravity works.

Graviter is simple. Exploit the flow of gravity to get the paw prints you’ll see in each level. This is accomplished by changing the size or position of a planet, or even phasing it out of existence. Thankfully, you don’t need to be a master of physics, the game will always guide how the gravity of a planet will pull. The challenge comes when you’ll need to quickly change angles or direction. In certain levels, you’re given the power to pause the trajectory, giving you the chance to do these changes in planets. Some levels let you do this freely, but most place a set number of pauses.

There are over a hundred levels, and half a dozen different themes of levels to test your abilities. I would definitely recommend sticking to the easier, beginner levels though, to really get a feel for the game. Some of the most specific levels can seem a tad overwhelming if you don’t really get it.

The game is really simple looking too, but there’s ways to customize it. Up front, the title screen lets you change the colorful puzzler into a monochrome one, which I love, but don’t think I’ll use too often. If you beat a lot of stages and collect enough coins, you can change the color of the comet’s trailer or trajectory. Solids, gradients of country flag colors, or go rainbow if you want to. You can also purchase stage skips and extra pauses if you need to use them.

Despite being a different idea, Graviter seems to get that making a puzzle game incredibly non-user friendly at the gate isn’t a wise idea. Some levels of the game do get incredibly difficult, but it starts off simple enough, to ease players into it. Also, I love the irony of No Gravity Games publishing this game.