Witchway
After the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police, the good folk at itch.io created the “Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality” in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement. 1,741 items from 1,391 creators were included in this bundle. This column not only serves to highlight those games, projects and other items from these generous creators, but is also a reminder that Black Lives do, and always will, Matter.
While the fight for racial equality and justice was news story #1 for only a few weeks, the movement did not stop when the coverage moved away. Protests march on, human rights violation occur daily, and justice continues to not be served. We must never stop fighting for what is right.
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Witchway - $4
I read once that the best kind of game takes one simple mechanic, then expands on that mechanic in many interesting ways. I don’t know if that’s true, but Witchway is a little puzzle platformer that follows that exact formula. It’s pretty dope.
There are no need for words in Witchway. Everything is intuitive - the 2D side scrolling rooms, the single box high jumping. In that way reminiscent of Super Mario, all basic rules are learned naturally through play.
The defining mechanic of Witchway is the wand. Said wand controls various boxes, building out physics and laser based puzzles with compounding complexity. The base is simple, but figuring out a room’s solution - particularly when finding a hidden bunny is involved - is always satisfying.
Witchway is short and sweet, taking one basic concept and building on it in a pleasing fashion. With a charming style and polished animations, this is one sunday afternoon puzzler that’s an easy recommend.