Ageless Gameplay Preview – Time Bending Puzzle Platformer

Ageless is a puzzle platformer that revolves around controlling time. This is mostly done by changing the growth phases of plants and animals around you. For example, you can change a Rhino from an egg, to a baby Rhino, to an adult, and finally, to an elderly form. Each phase of the Rhino is useful for navigating around the level in different ways.

The egg form can be thrown around to reposition the Rhino. The baby Rhino is attracted to plants and can be lured to a certain location. The adult Rhino will charge through wall segments, and the elderly form will break floor segments underneath it. Some areas have you use multiple forms of the Rhino to navigate the area. It feels satisfying when you figure out how to chain together a series of moves successfully. New areas introduce new mechanics to master.

The platforming controls well and even though I played on a keyboard, it felt great. I would still highly recommend using a controller of course. One thing that surprised me was the difficulty of the game. There are portions of levels where it took me multiple tries to figure out how to grab a collectable item and then even more tries to actually grab it. The game doesn’t hold your hand at all and provides a challenge. The checkpoint system is quite generous however, so dying has very little setbacks.

Overall, Ageless adds an unique twist to the puzzle platforming genre with some ingenious use of game mechanics. The controls feels great and the sprite based graphics create a feeling of nostalgia. The narrative elements seem to touch upon deeper thematic elements such as dealing with depression, but doesn’t do so in a heavy handed or condescending manner. Fans of platforming games have another very solid title to look forward to.