MO:
Astray

MO: Astray (2019) is a puzzle, jumping and exploration game. Rather than control a character who runs, you control an amorphous blob. To get around you have to use the game's unique movement mechanics to take advantage of the cleverly designed levels.

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You wake up in an abandoned laboratory and must piece together what has been happening in this extremely hostile and sinister environment. There's an eerie presence watching from the shadows, and only you can make sense of the mystery.

At first, you can only slide along the ground. But by absorbing energy you learn to jump and stick to walls and ceilings. This enables you to work around the walls of the levels taking care not to land on the spikey elements. More abilities are added to this, like double jumping and possessing other creatures.

What starts with exploration soon reveals itself to be something of a horror game as you absorb characters' heads to take over their body. It's also hard so you are likely to die frequently. When this happens you don't usually lose too much ground, however.

The result is a clever and mature game that feels unique and unusual to play. The controls fit well with the malleable character as you jump around the world. Add to this the meticulous pixel art graphics and smooth animation and it is an impressive experience.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked MO: Astray 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 10 months ago.