Quick Picks: Kolumno

The perfect game to calm you at awkward family gatherings

download.jpeg

Kolumno is a delightful puzzle game launching on the Nintendo Switch on December 24th from Devilish Games & Flynn’s Arcade. The launch date coupled with a $1.99 price tag, making this the perfect game to hop on your Switch when your Great Aunt asks you for the 5th time when you’ll find a nice person to marry. Soon, Aunt Sheila. Soon.

Green.jpg

There are 75 levels with 4 different power-ups that afford you the opportunities to smash through rings, hold your ball in mid-air, shrink to a microscopic size, or speed through ring breaks. What I love about this game is that you quickly learn how to use the power-ups with little instruction, but implementing them is a different story. Truly the game’s focus is about getting your timing right with dropping the ball, but the mastery of using the power-ups at the right time is a daunting but rewarding task. Playing this last night, I played a level no fewer than 15 times before I finally got it. That feeling was amazing. What this game does well is it only gives you the power-ups that you need to beat the level. Gone are the options of trying to figure out if you need to smash a ring or just hold the ball. The power-ups switch automatically with the level, so you don’t have to decide which to bring into the level. 

Switch_Kolumno_02.jpg

The real beauty of Kolumno comes from the art and music. Kolumno uses a muted and pastel color palette, which feels great in contrast to neons and bright colors. Nothing is flashy about this game, just simple cool-grey rings turning around a pastel column. As an art minded person, Kolumno uses its single light source beautifully, like a modern painting. The ball has a spotted white highlight and the ring’s shadows mirror that highlight beautifully.  The music is immensely soothing, with any frustration finding yourself stuck a level disappears with every note of the music. Even the timbre of the little metallic clink of the ball hitting the ring provides a satisfying accompanying percussion to the zen-like score. Additionally, small affirmations when you beat a level – Nice! Superb! Good One! – are an added bonus to getting it right!

kolumno_6.gif

Overall, Kolumno is definitely a must play for anyone who needs a peaceful distraction from life and pass the time and with a $1.99 price tag you can’t go wrong.

Written by Kelsey Lynn Towndrow

Previous
Previous

The Inaugural Indie Celebration

Next
Next

Bugsnax Review: Snaktooth Treasure Island