Is a great game hidden in the shadows?
SCHiM is a game about jumping from shadow to shadow in a challenging and lively environment. A schim is the soul and spirit of an object, thing, or living being. Everything in the world has one. A schim should NEVER be separated from their thing! This does happen to your schim, this schim who is attached to a human being is separated from him early on in the game. Can you get back to him before it’s too late?
SCHiM starts out with quite a heartwarming story with you and your schim as he grows up through life, only for him to have a bad day and end up separated from his schim. You then play as the schim as it hops from shadow to shadow to try and make its way back to its owner. The world is always flowing so you’ll need to time your jumps between shadows of people, everyday objects like bikes, cars, prams or even animals like cats to get to the next area.
Each area has hidden objects to be collected, so keep your eyes peeled and go off the beat and track. You can hold down the right trigger to give you a clue of which direction to be heading, while you can rotate the camera with the L1 and R1 buttons.
I didn’t know I could get attached to a living shadow and I wasn’t expecting the game to have as much emotion in it as it does, so it was a nice surprise. The art style is deceptively simple, yet the world feels alive around you. It’s animated well and the overall design is impressive. Add that in with some calming music and you’ll feel nice and relaxed as you hop from shadow to shadow.
The Verdict
SCHiM is a simple, yet unique idea that is pulled off incredibly well. It’s a superb puzzler that is charming from start to finish.
Score: 8.5
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co