[Recommended DL game] "Timelie" is a mysterious stealth puzzle game of a girl and a cat who manipulate time.

A series of "recommended DL games" that introduces honorable mentions and good works from download games. This time, we will introduce "Timelie" released on PC (Steam).

This work is a stealth puzzle game created by "Urnique Studio", an indie game studio in Bangkok, Thailand. It is a remarkable work that has won many awards in Thailand, such as winning the Game of the Year at "Microsoft Imagine Cup BEST GAME", "National Software Contest" and "BIDC 2020" which is the biggest game festival in Thailand. ..

Introducing the charm of this work "Timelie".

A stealth puzzle game that operates the seek bar like a video !?

This work is a stealth puzzle game in which a girl who awakens in a mysterious world cooperates with a small cat and aims at goals on various stages without being caught by a mysterious robot who is a pursuit.

A stealth game is not an action game, but a rather mysterious game called a "puzzle game". Basically, there is no story written in letters, and it is a style to consider with animation.

It is not possible to move freely in the map, but squares are set, and it is a system that moves the squares vertically, horizontally, and naname. Mysterious robots that are hostile move in the same way, so it would be easier to imagine a simulation game that moves in real time.

It's a game where you can grasp the movement of the robot and figure out how to move it, but that alone may not make you feel like a puzzle. The key is the "ability to manipulate time" possessed by the girl who is the main character. By using this ability, the game becomes a puzzle at once!

"Ability to manipulate time" is an easy-to-understand one that allows you to rewind and fast forward as if you captured the game. It is a novel operation method that operates the seek bar displayed at the bottom of the screen left and right. There is no action such as dashing or jumping.

Although it is a game screen, it has a novel UI like a video playback screen, but it is amazing that it does not feel strange with the graphics.

What can you do with this ability ... If you get caught by an enemy robot, you will have to start over from the beginning, but thanks to this ability, you can go back to before you get caught. Since you can return to your favorite point by operating the seek bar, the appeal of this work is that you can proceed through trial and error over and over again.

Even if the scaffolding collapses and you fall, you can return to the last minute with the ability to control time. The seek bar can be operated with either the mouse or keyboard.

By using the fast-forward function, you can see the behavior pattern of the enemy robot first.

Therefore, the player can grasp the behavior of the enemy robot at the start and think about the behavior of the optimum solution from the behavior pattern. It's interesting that you can enjoy it as a highly puzzle-like work like Tsume Shogi.

A challenging game difficulty!

Enemy robots move in a certain pattern, so you can clear the beginning by remembering that pattern. Therefore, it is not so difficult, but the difficulty of the game changes drastically after the middle stage! The point here is the combination with cats.

Cats can walk in narrow passages that girls can't pass through, or they can stop enemy robots with a bark.

On the other hand, it is interesting and difficult for the girl to have different roles, such as being able to operate the device that opens her door and repairing a broken and impassable road.

The operation is to switch between a girl and a cat with the "TAB" key. It is possible to switch during the action, so there are situations where the timing is questioned ...

Even though it is a single play, it is a puzzle game that is quite playful because it requires a combination play like CO-OP.

After the difficulty level goes up, use a cat to shift the movement of the robot and take the opportunity to let the girl escape! This time the girl is decoyed and the cat escapes! In this way, the conductors of enemies, girls, and cats are combined to find the optimal solution.

Please note that the girl and the cat must finish together to clear the game. It's easy if only one is ... There were many scenes where the girl was able to reach the goal but the cat was not in time.

There is basically no concept of game over in this work where time can be returned. However, there is a time limit. If the seek bar reaches the right side, the time will not advance and the game will be over.

When you run out of time, you start to worry about "how far do you want to go back and start over?"! Is the previous gimmick okay? Or do you go back to the beginning of the stage and start over? Moving the seek bar to the right and left to find a point that can be corrected is one of the charms of this work, so please worry about it to your heart's content.

The way to show after clearing is also novel and exciting!

After clearing, the play button will be displayed, and the action from the start to the goal will be replayed with a slightly different animation from the play screen!

What's more, the failed scene is not played, and the animation from the start to the goal is played, which makes me feel a little strange.

At first I didn't know how it was being played, but it was just playing on Seekbar Street (laughs). The failed part returns the seek bar and is overwritten with the success pattern. It was a simple theory that there was no part that failed in the end because I was heading toward the goal by repeating it.

What I felt a little disappointing was the lack of a function to save the animation after clearing. There were various scenes such as avoiding enemy robots at the last minute and scoring on a suspicious route that I do not know if it is a regular route, so I thought that if I could save it, I would have more fun.

In any case, it feels a little strange to see my splendid play progressing with no mistakes (laughs).

Stunning world view and hidden elements of even higher difficulty !?

The chapter selection screen is unified with the world view in the game, and when returning to the previous chapter, a rewinding effect is included, and this work has fine art.

Directing using the seek bar is available not only during the stage, but also everywhere, such as the chapter selection screen and staff roll screen. Since the world view is unified in the game, it is the charm of this work that you can enjoy the details, and it is an element that makes you immerse yourself.

The difficulty level of this work is high, and among them, if you take special actions such as "Clear without the cat ringing" or "Clear without fixing the broken scaffolding", "Relic" will be released.

It's pretty good to fully compose this relic, but it's difficult to clear it normally. It feels like walking the thorny path to release the "relic" in this work.

However, it will lead to the discovery of a route that is even better than the route that I thought was the optimal solution, and there will be discoveries that I enjoy deeply, so I would like you to take on the challenge. If you combine the main story clear and the relic capture, there is more than enough volume.

The music and graphics are simple yet polite and beautiful. What is this world above all? Who is the girl? Can you return safely? It is a fascinating work with many mysteries like this.

An interesting work where you can see the "past" by rewinding and the "future" by fast-forwarding. I would like people who like the mysterious world view and those who like high-difficulty puzzle games to play it.

Aim for clearing with a cat!