$9.99Contrast
Contrast puts you in the shoes of Dawn, an imaginary friend who can turn into a shadow. In a dreamlike 1920s city of vaudeville and film noir, you shift between a 3D world and its flat shadow world, moving lights to build paths out of darkness. A warm, melancholy story about a girl trying to hold her family together, carried by smooth jazz.
Is Contrast worth it?
Contrast is worth it if…
- you like puzzle platformers built around one strong idea rather than constant new mechanics
- you want a short, calm game with no combat and no timers
- you love noir atmosphere, jazz and a 1920s setting
- you enjoy stories about family, told gently through a child's eyes
Screenshots
Becoming a shadow on any lit wall
Dawn can flatten herself into a 2D silhouette and run along any shadow cast on a lit surface. The trick is that shadows are not fixed: move a spotlight, drag a crate, tilt a billboard, and the shadow world stretches, shrinks or breaks apart with it. A gap you cannot cross in 3D might be a flat road once a lamp swings the right way. You spend the game rearranging the real world so its shadows form the one you need, then slipping into it and running across. It is a simple idea that keeps finding new shapes, and the puzzles rarely repeat themselves.
A noir fairytale about a family falling apart
You play Dawn, the imaginary friend of Didi, a girl whose father has vanished and whose mother sings in a cabaret. Everyone else appears only as a shadow or a voice; only Didi can see you. The city around you is a dreamlike 1920s Paris of circuses, magic acts and empty streets, and adult problems like debt, separation and broken promises play out through a child's eyes. The voice acting carries it well, and the sultry jazz soundtrack, including Didi's mother singing in the club, does a lot of the emotional work. Notes and journals scattered around fill in what the scenes leave out.
How long does it take to finish?
Is there any combat or danger?
No. Contrast is a puzzle platformer with no enemies and no fighting. The challenge comes from arranging lights and objects so the shadows form a path, and failing a jump just means trying it again.
How hard are the puzzles?
Mostly gentle. Most puzzles ask you to move objects and light sources until the shadows line up, and they are logical rather than punishing, though a few later ones take real thought. The platforming is easy, but the controls can feel touchy at first and take a little adjusting to.
Can you play it with a child?
It suits it well. There is no violence, the story deals with adult problems like separation and debt but through a child's perspective and without anything explicit, and the pace is relaxed. A grown-up will get more out of the themes than a kid will, but nothing in it is unsuitable.
