Let me start by saying I’m a fan of tinybuild. They do a great job of cultivating and publishing a unique and diverse roster of games. That said, somehow this was the first year I was able to actually set up a demo with them at PAX West. Just my luck it turned out to be one of my favorite games I played this year!
All I knew going in was that Mr. Shifty was a game that featured top down graphics and teleportation. That was it. For all I knew, this was going to be a boring experience, but luckily, Team Shifty has made a fascinating, tight and very enjoyable game with Mr. Shifty. Slated to release on PC and potentially consoles sometime in 2017, it takes the simple mechanic of teleportation and builds the entire experience around it intricately. Because as much as the game is about porting around, it’s also about strategy, timing and just a bit of luck.
See, while you can teleport through pretty much anything, there is a limit to how often in a row you can do so. This is implemented to keep things from feeling overpowered or broken. Getting through a section requires skill, strategy and great timing. I just happen to play lots of twitch happy games, so the timing in Mr. Shifty came to me pretty easily. What is especially rewarding is when you time a shift just right before a bullet fires and freeze time for a couple seconds. This technique becomes especially crucial when you are surrounded by angry men with weapons, as is often the case. The AI is quite aggressive, so foes will attempt to surround you and fill your body full of bullet holes. I also appreciated how each enemy type had a different pattern of attack, so you’ll constantly need to be on your toes.
Besides porting around and punching things, you can also grab temporary weapons and whistle to draw enemies near you, but do so carefully. Sometimes you won’t see the entire crowd of foes til they’re right on top of you, which will likely result in a messy death. Though I don’t know much about the plot of Mr. Shifty, I can say I’m already a fan, and look forward to the 2017 release date. If you like strategy with just a dash of style, then give Mr. Shifty a look!
