ChromaGun

ChromaGun is a first-person puzzle game in which we solve puzzles by combining colors. The early version of the title was created during Ludum Dare, a weekend game jam. Later, the prototype was developed into a fully fledged production released on PS4, Switch, etc. The game was developed by a small German studio called Pixel Maniacs.

Plot

Without much explanation, the player is placed in the sterile labs of a large corporation called ChromaTec. As their employee, we have to test the revolutionary, freshly patented ChromaGun technology. The successive rooms will require us to use the device in various ways. We also must avoid spherical maintenance droids. We are also accompanied by an extravagant and malicious narrator, reminiscent of the one from The Stanley Parable.

Mechanics

The basic principles of each room-puzzle are trivially simple - we have to get to the marked exit door while avoiding any danger. However, if you look at the walls and the floor, you will notice that each panel or tile can be colored with the ChromaGun, which has "ammunition" in three basic colors.

It only takes a moment to understand that identically colored obstacles and surroundings begin to attract each other, and spherical robots are eliminated by electrical traps on the floor. After the first few test chambers, the game gets more challenging because the player has to learn new mechanics quite quickly and combine basic colors in their head, e.g. merge a red ball with a yellow one, in order to change the flight path of the orange sphere with spikes. Such "mixtures" become one of the most complicated mechanics of the game, so it is worth remembering them or buying a painting diagram of combining colors.

Once the player is accustomed to routine mechanics, they begin to change and get more unique. The game is soon joined by black enemies, who cannot be immobilized with colors - we have to flee from them. Some fragments of the walls are surrounded by a force field blocking our rainbow attacks. Single-colored objects begin to change places, and those painted brown can't be painted anymore. Malicious scientists are also changing the door openers every now and then. The player starts to demand solutions that are not obvious, and other rooms will keep even the most sophisticated ones for a long time.

Technical aspects

The initial prototype made during Ludum Dare was completely redesigned for modern platforms. While the iOS edition remained quite "light" and simple in its graphics, every texture and object from the early version was changed for the versions available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Colours are quite vivid and saturated, which allows for quick identification even from a distance and makes it easier to focus on thinking. The environment itself is sterile white and made up of the necessary "blocks" thanks to which we can solve the puzzles. The subdued music appears quite sporadically and is only a background for the narrator, the natural sounds of laboratory equipment and the quiet steps of the lonely character.

Last updated on May 13, 2019