Independent developer Vivid Helix today announced that Semispheres will launch on February 14th, 2017 for Sony PlayStation 4 and for PC on Steam. Semispheres is a beautiful, 2D puzzle game with a gorgeous, synth-led soundtrack by Sid Barnhoorn, composer of Antichamber and The Stanley Parable, that places dual realities at the heart of its challenge. Featuring a bichromatic art style comprised of warm blues and oranges, it’s a game that seeks to reunite two parallel worlds.
“I’m super excited for everybody to finally play Semispheres. From the first seed of an idea I prototyped at the Ludum Dare game jam in August 2014, to what players are about to experience, the game’s development has been an amazing experience,” said Radu Muresan, designer of Semispheres. “Now, with the game’s minimalist art style and an amazing soundtrack by Sid Barnhoorn, Semispheres represents the completion of the vision I had close to 3 years ago, striking the balance between calming and challenging I’ve been looking for.”
In Semispheres, each analogue stick controls a different avatar in environments that might initially appear identical but reveal profound differences crucial to progression. Portals allow the avatars to enter each other’s reality, creating fiendishly complex inter-dimensional puzzles, with success reliant on methodical planning and skilful execution. It’s not all esoteric brain workouts, though. Tension is introduced through the sentries that guard these worlds, whose fields of vision you must evade in order to find safe passage and the eventual resynchronisation of the worlds.
With fiendish puzzles that escalate in complexity, Semispheres presents a real challenge for both puzzle aficionados and newcomers to the genre alike. Yet the game’s beautiful audio and visual presentation ensure things never get too much, as soothing an experience as it is challenging. Semispheres will launch on PC via Steam and for PlayStation 4 on the PlayStation Store on February 14th 2017. Controller support includes the option to play with keyboard. Additional platform releases will follow in 2017.
