Introducing a single-player puzzle game with a co-op-style experience is definitely a bit new to me, but after playing through the first few levels of Tandem: A Tale of Shadows, I saw how it really works well. Giving two different perspectives and rules to work with, Monochrome Paris is definitely on to something. Obviously, this didn’t go unnoticed as their publisher, Hatinh Interactive is gearing up to release it on multiple platforms later this year. Luckily, I was given exclusive early access to the game, so let’s get into some of the details.
Gameplay
When it comes to completing a level, the goal is to get the teddy bear character, named Fenton, to a gem at the end. This gem could be locked away or out of reach for Fenton, which is where the little girl, Emma, comes in to play. While Fenton follows his own gravitational laws and finds his pathway to be along the wall, where a thorny death awaits him if he falls, Emma is on the floor and able to provide Fenton a pathway.
To create pathways, Emma must create a shadow for Fenton to walk across. Holding the source of light, you will need to find the right positioning to give Fenton the shadow walkway. It starts out easy and just needs Emma to stand in the right place, but it gets more difficult as you progress. Soon you will have to move walls, open doors by finding keys, and more to create the right angles.
Of course, it is not always a one-answer system. As levels get harder and harder to solve, the more intricate things become. Even to the point that there will end up being enemies to sneak around and block off. Plus, there will be puzzles within the level that will make it harder to work with the light source you hold as an outer light source will intrude or need to be worked with as extra shadow leverage.
Essentially, this game focuses on Emma using light to guide her way through the level and solve ways to get doors unlocked, objects moved to where they need to be, and enemies to avoid. Meanwhile, Fenton seems to just be able to move along the shadows and stand on the provided platforms while waiting for Emma to provide him with the next pathway. However, keep in mind that you can’t put Fenton in the shadows, or else he can’t move at all.
Expectations
I really like the idea of the shadows that Emma creates being considered a solid surface for Fenton, all the way to the point that when he is engulfed in the shadow he can’t move. What I am hoping to see though is more useful for Fenton in this whole scenario. Sure, I get that even in the story Emma is there to help Fenton get back to his owner that dropped him, but from the few levels I played through, Fenton is literally just being ushered forward as you solve all the puzzles with Emma.
These puzzles being based around light and switches is definitely going to bring a lot of various options to how they can be set up. I look forward to seeing how intricate they make the whole game and how they plan on blending all of these puzzle mechanics with the challenges of facing a variety of enemy types.
Please allow the controls to be adjusted, or perhaps just change them to default to where the movement controls for Emma work according to how the camera is. The up and down keys felt inverted due to the controls moving according to her perspective, which we aren’t looking at.
Conclusion
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows definitely shows great promise to be an entertaining puzzle game! There is a lot of room for the challenges to grow and for the difficulty to increase. I even found the first lookout enemies to be rather difficult to sneak across, so we will have to wait and see where they plan on taking that further. Even though I only was given access to a handful of levels, I am now really looking forward to this new puzzle game’s full release.
