SCHiM

Developer: Ewoud van der Werf, Nils Slijkerman | Publisher: Extra Nice, PLAYISM | Release Date: 2024 | Genre: Casual / Adventure / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Apparently, every object, thing, or living being has a soul and spirit, called a “schim,” living in its shadow. According to this indie game, that schim takes the form of a googly-eyed, inky black frog-like creature. Every shadow is also a dark pool for these schim to swim around in. A schim should never be separated from their being, so obviously, that is precisely what happens near the start of the game. What follows is an adventure where players are in charge of reuniting the lost schim with their hapless human.

SCHiM is a 3D platformer that combines elements of light and shadow. Many platformers have dabbled with this idea, but SCHiM does things a little differently. Since a schim cannot survive outside shadows for more than a few seconds, the game is about safely jumping from one shadow to the next. Each level in SCHiM is a chase to try and get back to your human, who is perpetually out of reach. Initially, jumping between shadows is a walk in the park, but as the levels progress, so does the complexity of the safe routes through them. Static shadows that mark clearly defined paths soon give way to moving shadows or puzzles that require some manipulation of the environment. For example, players might need to manipulate traffic lights to safely cross a road in the shadows of cars or raise the boom barrier at a railway crossing to reach the next shadow. These puzzles rarely become more complicated, but they add variety to all the platform hopping.

SCHiM features more than sixty levels in total, although most of them can be completed in a matter of minutes. Each level features a different scenario and scenery, making them little vignettes in your human’s life. Even though the game features no speech or subtitles, players get to experience the ups and downs of their human’s life. It would seem that after losing their schim, the poor human has not had much luck in their career and has been drifting from job to job. While sad to see, it does mean that there’s plenty of variety in the levels. The game does not skimp on new locations, from city streets and shops to tranquil parks and beaches. The levels have a very European look, and people familiar with the Netherlands will feel right at home thanks to the scenery, canals, and abundance of bicycles.

Visually, SCHiM features a very minimalistic style where the shadows stand out, and everything else consists of two-tone outlines. This style allows for complex levels with lots of objects and people while still keeping the focus on the shadows. SCHiM also uses a different color palette for each level, which does a wonderful job of conveying the time of day as well as the emotional tone of the stage. The game is viewed from an isometric perspective, featuring some wonderful animations, and every object can be interacted with once you are in its shadow. These interactions range from making people shiver or sneeze to causing cars to honk their horns, lights to flicker, or trash to fly out of bins. Some interactions are part of the puzzles, such as activating switches, but most are purely for fun.

Your schim can move around freely inside the confines of any shadow and perform a long or short hob to move from one to the next. If you land shy of the shadow that you were aiming for, you can also perform a short emergency hop to get to safety. However, if you miss a shadow and end up stranded in the light, your schim will respawn at the last safe spot you have reached. Sometimes, this spot was a little further back than we expected, which was annoying, but generally, the game is quite forgiving. As mentioned earlier, most levels are pretty short, but a few are a little larger and more complex. SCHiM does not have any visual indicators of where to go either. Instead, players are shown their objective at the start of the level. During the level, players can also hold down a button to slowly pan the camera towards their next objective. We would have liked the option to zoom out, too, but we never had too much trouble getting to where we needed to go. Players can rotate the camera to get a better look at their surroundings, but only in 90-degree increments, which also feels a bit limiting compared to a free-look camera.

Playing SCHiM using a controller, we found the controls to be responsive. The path through each level is quite linear, but players are encouraged to explore a little bit to find the “lost objects” that are hidden about. Finding these objects serves no purpose other than reuniting them with their schim but adds some replay value to the levels. Completing the game also unlocks some options, such as the ability to turn off the short “safety” hop, play without checkpoints, or even turn on the “risky” mode, which limits your number of respawns for the entire game. These options can turn SCHiM from a casual title into something that can make even veterans sweat a little. SCHiM features some upbeat music with a lo-fi sound to complement the unique art style and relaxing gameplay. On some levels, the audio takes on a more melancholy sound, depending on the mood that is being set, but overall, the soundtrack is quite cheerful. The sound effects are decent, too, especially the satisfying plop from successfully landing in a shadow.

SCHiM is sufficiently different from typical 3D platformers to make it worthwhile, but unfortunately, most levels play out the same. There are some highlights, such as taking direct control of certain things and even a quick round of golf where players can set the direction and power of each swing. Sadly, players will have seen most of the mechanics the game has to offer after the first few levels, which means it can become a little repetitive. We found it best to enjoy a few levels daily instead of trying to blast through all 65 in a single session. With its unique protagonist and timing-based jumps, SCHiM almost feels like a modern successor to Frogger. Unfortunately, despite some moments of brilliance, it struggles to deliver enough variety to really keep players hooked. SCHiM is still a very solid title and worth playing through, but some players might tire of it before reaching the end. We highly recommend sticking with it, though, as the last level, in particular, is one of the best in the game.