An interesting one, this. At first glance it all looks a little too Animal Crossing - cute green fields, clear blue streams and cozy little houses. You’ll soon begin to wonder where all the monsters are at, this being a dungeon-crawler and all. Have patience. After a bit of aimless wandering the story kicks in – the usual ‘peaceful village plagued by evil forces’ guff – and you’ll be introduced to the rather dynamic dungeon portion of the game.

The 2D dungeons are displayed on both screens. The catch is that after a certain amount of time, each screen will rumble and ‘shuffle’ sideways to reveal a new area. The aim is to avoid being caught during a ‘shuffle’ while simultaneously killing monsters and pulling levers to escape. It’s fast-paced, exciting stuff, and marks out Away: Shuffle Dungeon as an intriguing title.

Dec 3, 2008