Preview: Toodee and Topdee

Imagine merging two dimensions. You have to process that in one game. How would you handle it? Maybe you can peek from the interesting puzzle game Todee and Topdee. Here it is tackled simply but effectively.

Toodee and Topdee is an interesting puzzle game. The demo of this game already presents quite a few levels which show that the concept has been well thought out. This is such a game in which you can manipulate a lot in the game world. It is precisely the manipulation of the game world. I’ve seen games that let you manipulate the game world (Swaps and Traps, Shadow Puppeteer) but this craziness brings you joy and entertainment in a new creative Steam title full of humor and puzzle fun.

2D and Bird View merge

At the start of the game, you will be presented with a funny story that immediately gives you some information about the gameplay of the game. The tutorial is ingeniously interwoven between the introduction storyline. You will quickly learn that Topdee and Topdee are both characters created by one ancient god. Yet they are very different. Where one lives in a flat and more classical game styled 2D world, the other lives in a bird view perspective as we know from the more traditional RPG titles.

Problems within the world of Toodee and Topdee arises soon after an accomplice of the ancient god is afraid of becoming unemployed. The god, who intended to create eight worlds, has almost run out of the to-do list that his accomplice is keeping track of. T avoid making the accomplice obsolete, he steals the most precious object in the world. After stealing it, the game world glitches terribly and the 2D and bird view world are merged. Where in the beginning you wonder how such completely different perspectives can blend seamlessly, Toodee and Topdee turned out to be immensely enjoyable.

Some puzzle maddnes

The clumping is great to experience as a player. It offers many options to show with creative puzzle elements. During the game, you will regularly switch between the two perspectives. That way you can solve interesting new puzzles. Doors that remained closed for one the character, can be opened by the other because a key can be picked up. Pig enemies blocking the path will ignore gravity if you change to the bird view perspective. Their unnatural behavior is then severely punished if you go back to the 2D perspective. You soon drop them in a lot of spikes. Autsj, that must hurt! But better than you jumped at those creators.

Constantly you have to think about how both characters survive and progress through the level. All the time you have to think about how to properly switch between the two perspectives because each action has an effect on the other perspective. However, Still, I hoped to eventually be challenged a little more. The difficulty of the game still feels a bit out of balance. It is not really difficult to get both characters safely at the end of a level. In addition, there is currently no real build-up in the degree of difficulty. Sometimes levels that come later in the series seem easier than the level just solved before.

Graphics blend together

While trying to solve a level, pay close attention to the graphic details. The visuals of this whole adventure are very simple, yet very effective. Where everything initially looks like a simple 2D game, it is cool to see how graphically the two perspectives blend seamlessly. When you transition to a bird’s view, the first flat-looking environment suddenly gets an extra layer of depth. The transition works flawlessly and it ensures that the game is full of small graphic details. Clearly there has been a lot of work done!

A lot has also been thought about simple effects. They show up well in the storytelling. Planets representing worlds pop up one by one, triggered by an appropriate sound. The ancient god attracts attention and the death animation of the 2D character is secretly a bit humorous. This blows up. It is somewhat reminiscent of how AAA-title Rayman Legends approaches the death animation. A lot of detail has also been put into the moving backgrounds and animations from the characters and enemies.

Should you play Toodee and Topdee?

The concept of the game is rock solid. The demo already shows that a lot is possible with the gameplay. I am convinced that the real version of the game can conjure up many more creative things. We still have to wait and see. The first impression is good. If you want to give this game a try, the Toodee and Topdee demo is available for free on Steam. The final build has no release date yet, but will release somewhere this year.