2019-03-01_PC_Gamer

I

can’t decide whether I hateJumpgrid’s

ultra-precise guts or I want to impress it.

Jumpgrid(being an intense grid-based

teleport-dance game by Ian McLarty and

not a person in its own right) doesn’t give a fig

what I think. It just sits on my hard drive, taunting

me with its mere existence and giving me horrible

Super Hexagonflashbacks.

point instead of sliding is key here,

because it allows you to hop from one side

of a moving obstacle to the other as it

passes overhead. Adding to the

complexity is the fact you can warp off

one side of the grid and appear on the

other – you’ll need that for avoiding wide

or fast obstacles where you can’t move to

one of the naturally adjacent points.

As MacLarty puts it, “Success requires

only a few seconds of precision finger

gymnastics, but touch any of the pulsing

hazards and the level instantly resets,

ready for you to try again, and again, and

again.” It’s probably more accurate to say,

“Success requires you pass from a state

of panic into one of controlled fear as

thumping music plays and objects whirl

until you eventually hit some kind of

rhythm and experience the joy of actual

skill for the exact amount of time it takes

to collect eight blobs, then you’re back to

being fumble-fingered trash.”

I mean, why are my fingers so bad?

Why can I never remember to disappear

off the edge of the grid when it matters?

How are these levels even possible?

REPEAT OFFENDER

It reminds me of MacLarty’s earlier game,

Boson X: an endless runner set in a

particle accelerator. That too involved

precision movements, flashing lights and

an insistent soundtrack. Crucially, both

games pair that precision and stimulation

with frictionless restarts. In Boson X you

just hit the space bar and you’re off again,

speeding through the accelerator. With

Jumpgrid it restarts the level for you. It’s

easier to keep playing than to quit.

Jumpgrid – or at least the prerelease

build I’ve played – is that combination of

simple, glorious and infuriating which can

tank my productivity. I guess what I’m

trying to say is: SEND HELP! I’ve fallen into

a game and can’t get out.

Philippa Warr

“PICK UP THE CUBES

AND SKIDADDLE DOWN

ASPACETUBE.IT’SSO

SIMPLE. AND YET”

PLAYED

IT

Teleportation meets dancing in

this arcade rhythm dodger

JUMPGRID

Jumpgrid gives you three vertical lines

and three horizontal lines. Where they

intersect they form a 3x3 grid. On eight of

those intersections there are rotating

cubes that you must collect to open the

wormhole in the middle and get to the

next grid. All you need to do is warp from

point to point along one of those lines, pick

up the cubes, and skidaddle down a space

tube. It’s so simple. And yet.

Passing over the top of this grid are an

array of fast-moving shapes which you

have to avoid or you’ll instantly reset the

grid. The fact that you warp from point to

Jumpgrid

PREVIEW

RELEASE

Early 2019

DEVELOPER

Ian MacLarty

PUBLISHER

In-house

LINK

ianmaclarty.com/jumpgrid

NEED TO KNOW

Do not touch these brick

outline things.