One of the games on my wishlist this year is Children of the Sun. A cool puzzle game with mechanics that are a combination of bullet time and laser bouncing + an interesting art style, and a gritty tale of revenge. Sign me up!
I took the time to play the demo, hoping that it wouldn’t disappoint. Spoiler alert- it did not.
Going through the levels, I found myself looking through my mental checklist to evaluate if this held promise as a puzzle game.
What Makes a Good Puzzler?
The mark of a great puzzle game starts with a unique core mechanic. One that is easy to understand and can be used in many different ways. I recently reviewed one such puzzler, Halver, where the core mechanic was cutting blocks in half to solve a puzzle screen. Similarly, Portal requires you to use a portal gun to make portals, and Superhot has time progress only when you move.
These core mechanics are built on within the game, adding variation and twists till the game takes on a life of its own. With a good core mechanic, a designer can create levels that test everything- from your problem-solving skills, ability to learn and predict events, and even your reaction speed. It is this combination of a good core mechanic that can be adjusted, and smart level design, that makes an amazing puzzle game.
If the demo is anything to go by, Children of the Sun does this. In the game. you control the path of a single sniper bullet to take out all your enemies. Once you take aim and shoot at the initial enemy, you take control of the bullet. After it hits a viable target, you re-aim and ricochet the bullet to the next target till everyone is dead.
It’s a simple concept. But as the game starts placing enemies into buildings and they start moving, it gets harder and harder. After all, if you hit anything else, a wall, a rock, or a tree, you have to restart. The designers challenge you by giving you plenty of barriers and enough tricks to control the bullet.
This game is played completely with your mouse. With a few clicks, you can slow your bullet, re-aim if the correct conditions are met, speed things up, and even curve the bullet like in ‘Wanted.’
Where Have I Seen That Trick Before?
Amazing puzzlers don’t try to reinvent the wheel.
A teacher once told me that no idea is an original. Trying to create something completely new would drive you insane. Where you can set yourself apart is by finding a new perspective on an idea to create something that feels new. The best puzzlers take something and create a new cool version of it.
A great example of this is Superhot. It took the concept of bullet time (slowing down or controlling time when you fire) and flipped it on the head where you now controlled time by moving. Similarly, Baba is You is a game about rethinking what the player and even what the goal is. These games use simple shifts in existing game mechanics to create memorable, satisfying, and challenging games.
Just like Superhot, Children of the Sun has found its unique edge in its interpretation of the idea. When shot, your bullet flies albeit at a slower speed than normal to give the player a chance to react. When we trigger a mechanic, the bullet will slow down, allowing us to curve it, or re-aim if we have met the game requirements. If not, time almost stops when the bullet hits a target, allowing us to spin the camera around to find our next target.
To make this challenging, the game ups the ante by asking us to make all our kills in the least number of ricochets. It’s not just about the bullet control but also about finding the most efficient target path. This is where the game marries bullet time with the laser bouncing mechanic that we see in Talos Principle. The puzzle requires the gamer to identify the best start point as well as each subsequent target to kill all the enemies, as quickly as possible. These stops, and the time in which we achieve it all, contribute to our score and our subsequent position on the global leaderboards.
Why Do These Mechanics Work for Children of the Sun?
The entire package of 3 different types of skills works to create a unique satisfying puzzle. The bullet time mechanic requires the ability to aim, react quickly, and adjust. You need to use strategy to find the correct starting point and the path to eliminate every single target. And you need to be tactical to do it as quickly as possible, in the least number of steps.
The Final Package
This combination of concepts, mechanics, and perspectives is what makes a solid foundation for a good puzzler. Then, yes, it is all about how the developers build out the levels and how they pace the introduction of twists, both to the mechanics and the levels.
Some games, like Halver, Professor Goodboi’s Ballistics, or Flipull (this is an ancient reference for you) are all about the mechanics and the board/level we have to clear. They feature tweaks to the mechanics and it’s pretty straightforward – use the tweak to keep achieving the goal.
Then there are some games that take the puzzle into a larger 2D or 3D world. They add exploration and even philosophical motifs that make you think or visualize a puzzle in a bigger scheme. These are games like Talos Principle, The Witness, Maquette, and Fez that bring an icing to the cake of the puzzle, adding dimension, hinting at a story or a world, and providing the player with something larger to bite into.
Then we have the Portal games, Stanley Parable, Zelda, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and, of course, Children of the Sun. These games add emotions and a narrative, either shallow or in-depth, to bring meaning and drive to each level.
Children of the Sun is built on the premise of a girl seeking revenge on a crazed cult that has killed her family. The game adds to that emotion of rage and obsession with a psychedelic art style and cool cinematics. It isn’t just the icing on the cake, it’s the cherry on top that makes succeeding at each level so very satisfying.
The Experience
Every element of Children of the Sun builds a mood. From the cymbal hit of the first successful strike to the dissonant, almost watery roars that create the soundscape of each level. From the flashing imagery of the cutscenes to the deep blues and greens contrasting with the eye-searing yellows of the cult members. They all echo the disturbed mind of the protagonist, and every minute of the demo only served to make me more excited for this game.
I am excited to see how they have applied design to create the mood of a revenge tale. Everything so far points to a really promising and challenging puzzle game, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
