Degrees of Separation
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Narrative, Platform and Puzzle
Released: February 2019. Added to this library 3 weeks ago.
Overview
Degrees of Separation is a running and jumping game where you control two characters from different seasons, Ember and Rime. Each has different abilities to change the environment and help you to progress: freezing water, melting ice and the like.
They are animated like cardboard cutouts from a story book and the tale of co-operation, love and fate extends this aesthetic. Although this is more suited to younger players the intriguing back and forth of winter and summer to progress is enjoyable for all.
You can play this alone, pressing a button to switch characters, but it's much more fun to play with someone else. You each control one the characters and their related season. Communication is key to solving puzzles and progressing.
Tip
This game is good if you want to step up and help out, manipulate time to win or work in a team to win.
Commitment
Costs
You will need Xbox Live Gold (must be 18 to create, then configure family accounts for younger players) to play online with Xbox One. You will need PlayStation Plus (must be 18 to create, then create sub-accounts for younger players) to play online with PlayStation 4. You will need Nintendo Online (must be 18 to purchase, but can be any age to use) to play online with Nintendo Switch.
Ratings
Accessibility
System settings: Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.
Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators. PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping). Xbox One has a wide range of system features including some that can be used on all games, like the excellent co-pilot mode... read more.
Similar Games
The following games address a similar topic or offer a similar way to play. They are good options to play after Degrees of Separation, and also offer a range of alternatives for different age ratings.
Wilmot's Warehouse
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC and iOS
Genres: Puzzle
Duration: Between 9 hours and 11 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
This is a game for people who like to organise things. You are in charge of a warehouse and must manage 100s of items of stock. These identical square boxes are labelled with rudimentary icons. On your own or with another player, you must decipher what...
Wildfire
Platforms: PC
Genres: Action, Fighting, Puzzle and Simulation
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Wildfire is a running, jumping and hiding game where you hide from (and distract) enemies to get through levels and complete missions. You have specific powers to start fires, freeze water, and move earth that offer different ways to solve the puzzle of...
Maquette
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5
Genres: Puzzle and Simulation
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Maquette is a puzzle game played in a series of nested identical worlds. What you do in the larger world effects things in the smaller one, and so on. Every building, plant, and object are simultaneously tiny and staggeringly huge.
Toodee and Topdee
Platforms: PC
Duration: Between 2 minutes and 10 minutes to play a round.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Toodee and Topdee is a platform puzzle game where you control two characters to complete single-screen levels. The twist is that each character exists in a different plane. Toodee is a top-down block-pushing world, while Topdee is side-on platforming....
Pikuniku
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Platform, Puzzle and Simulation
Duration: Between 3 hours and 4 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Pikuniku is an adventure where you play a red creature, Piku, on a mission to harvest the colourful world's resources. You interact with different objects to trigger switches and open doors. You can also lasso your legs to swing from hooks or curl into...
A Fold Apart
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and iOS Apple Arcade
Genres: Platform
Duration: Between 4 hours and 6 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
A puzzle game that explores the emotional rollercoaster of a long-distance relationship — in a world of folding paper. After career choices force them along separate paths, a Teacher and Architect vow to make their long-distance relationship work at...
Chariot
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 14 hours and 15 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 2 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
Chariot is a co-op platform game where you haul around a wheeled Chariot, to the end of each level. Pushing, pulling or dragging with ropes, you need to use the real physics of the game to solve puzzles and time jumps to get the heavy object to the...
Ibb and Obb
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation 3
Genres: Action, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 6 hours and 9 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 2 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Ibb & Obb is a puzzle game where you run, jump, land on enemies and solve momentum puzzles. The novelty is that it's a game designed for co-operation. One player controls the green creature, Ibb, and the other controls the pink creature, Obb. The world...
Unravel (Series)
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 6 hours and 9 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Unravel and the two-player Unravel Two are a pair of jumping and swinging platform games where you control a character made out of wool. As well as making him look super cute, the wool is used to swing around and interact with objects.
Shadow Puppeteer
Platforms: Nintendo Wii U and PC
Genres: Adventure and Platform
Duration: Between 4 hours and 7 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
In Shadow Puppeteer one player controls a shadow and the other player controls the main character. Their task is to help each other progress through a series of platform levels to recover stolen shadows from their hometown.
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons
Platforms: Android, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Action, Adventure, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 4 hours and 5 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an action-adventure game where you control two brothers at the same time with a single controller. After their mother passes away, they must find some water from the Tree of Life to save their father. The controls weave...
Degrees of Separation is in These Lists
In addition to the similar games listed above, which have been linked to this game specifically in the database, you may find games with a similar theme to Degrees of Separation in the following lists:
Remote Play Together With Steam
Not all games support these feature but for those that do, listed here, all you need is one copy of the game for the two of you, an account on Steam and a PC to play on in your separate locations and a good internet connection.
You can also use the Steam Remote Play Anywhere feature to stream your games from you PC to another device like a smartphone or tablet. This enables you to play in a different room of the house or on the go.
Work Together to Thrive
Along with teamwork, the games I’ve selected here use the fact that players are all sitting next to each other.
These are games where players take on different roles in order to complete unusual tasks. The fun is often as much about the conversations (and arguments) that happen in the room as what’s happening on the screen.
Bend Time To Your Advantage
Be A Good Neighbour
"What if video games have more to offer than just an exciting diversion into a digital battlefield, fantasy war, or alien invasion? While these types of games are certainly the loudest and most financially successful, there are a growing number of games asking important questions about life, the human condition, and even God."
"Our list is not 'Christian' games, but rather a list of games that pose important spiritual questions to those who play them. These are games that provide us with the opportunity to consider what a truly 'spiritual' life looks like by encouraging us to have empathy for the suffering, love for our neighbours and our enemies, and an imagination vivid enough to contemplate a better world."
Journey's understated yet deep mythology, lack of guidance and mysterious ways it brings players together will have players thinking about the course of their own lives. Dropsy is, on the surface, a silly point-and-click adventure game about a creepy but misunderstood clown, dig deeper and you’ll see this a game that challenges players to love everyone, even their enemies. Kentucky Route Zero is at its core, about rediscovery, of adventure-game mechanics and modernist aesthetics, of a more spiritual outlook on the physical world.
Gris is a platformer about the stages of grief that highlights the indelible impact of our most sacred relationships. That Dragon, Cancer is a game where Ryan and Amy Green share their grief and their hope by drawing us not only into their lives but into the common grace of the Christian faith. Myst, one of the best selling titles of all time, is a puzzle game about the beauty and mystery of creation. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a game about the spiritual impact our most precious relationships have on us. Wandersong is a game about transforming the world with music. Heroism isn’t measured in bulk or recognition but in the melodic tones of compassion and kindness. The Last Guardian confronts us with our own self-centeredness and challenges us to give rather than merely take.
Pyre is a game about mercy that deconstructs player’s perceptions of winning and losing, encouraging them to see and meet the needs of those who are oppressed. My Child Lebensborn is a game that challenges players to care for a child born into a fascist regime--this is a game about the power of empathy. Celeste strikes at the centre of what it means to be a person in all of our messy humanity a wonderful reminder that even when we fall, we are lifted up again through redemptive love, forgiveness, and grace—both for ourselves and for one another.
Thanks for using our resource, supported by AskAboutGames, ParentZone and PlayAbility Initiative. We are editorially independent, written by parents for parents, but welcome sponsorship, partnership and suggestions. Email our editor for details on these opportunities.The information on this database is designed to support and complement the in-depth discussion and advice about video game "addiction", violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. If you have any concerns or questions in these areas, email our editor who is quick to respond or can arrange for a one-to-one conversation.
Email a correction for Degrees of Separation.