Lightmatter

Lightmatter asks for the kind of attention that first-person puzzle games thrive on: you move through a space by using light, shadow, and the rules of the room itself. By our assessment, that is its best idea, because the setup is easy to grasp and the puzzles can make the player think about visibility as a mechanic, not just decoration. The cost is that this kind of design can feel narrow if the rooms do not keep changing in interesting ways. In practice, it is a game of looking, repositioning, and solving small spatial problems more than of speed or combat. It sits nearer to Portal-style environmental puzzlers than to action-heavy first-person games, though it uses a more serious, industrial mood. Lightmatter is for people who enjoy being made to look twice at a room, and less for anyone who wants constant momentum.