Rose and Time Preview
It’s games like Rose and Time that are the very reasons I love indie games. Indie game development is all about a person or a few people that have a great idea and decide to make something of it. They don’t do it for money or recognition (although that’s probably very nice), they do it to share their ideas and express themselves. It’s indie games that bring originality and variation to gaming and that’s exactly what Rose and Time has to offer – a unique experience. So Rose and Time is a simple puzzle game but with an extraordinary twist…
Travelling through time is difficult, and often confusing, but Rose is determined to find her parents who are trapped somewhere in the past. After tirelessly learning everything about time travel she awakens to find herself somewhere completely new, a kind of void with a glowing crystal. This is where you pick up. As Rose you can rewind time in case you mess up, cover your eyes and move around, with the goal being to simply reach all of a stages crystals, sounds simple right? Well it’s not. Every time you reach a crystal time jumps back to the beginning of the stage, but you start in a new position with a new crystal to reach. The catch is that all of the past versions of yourself, that you have controlled to reach previous crystals, are still running around in the exact path you made with them. You must avoid being spotted at all costs, in fear of creating a paradox, but future you is not enough to stop it. By cleverly using earlier versions of yourself you must cover your eyes so that future you can run by and take specific routes around obstacles to avoid spotting yourself later. It takes being two steps ahead of yourself to win.
It may sound a bit too much and it’s rather difficult to explain but I’m already a big fan. The available demo is also rather lengthy and really lets you get into the game, instead of just unlocking boring easy levels. As someone who loves puzzle games and stories about time-travel Rose and Time is right up my alley, but the game itself is also quite charming. There’s not much going on in the world and there’s not much to see but that takes away nothing from the fun gameplay and sweet music.
Game available on the OUYA or from http://www.sophiehoulden.com/games/roseandtime/