Something doesn't smell right
If you couldn't tell from the title of this preview, this puzzle platformer likes to lean on the cheeky, slapstick end of the comedy spectrum. In Shiftlings, you play as intergalactic janitors who are secretly the stars on a reality TV show, The Truman Show-style. The objective of the show? Watch as two brainless idiots (controlled simultaneously by you, the player) attempt to navigate complex levels, repair malfunctioning mechanical devices, and hopefully watch them die an entertaining death. Morbid, right?
Each level has you move from point A to ending point B. You control both characters - who are tethered together by a long hose - at the same time. The thing is, one of them let loose a giant fart that inflated his airtight space suit, making him a massive, bouncy sphere. Luckily, that fart can be swapped between the two characters' suits at any time. Using this mechanic, you'll have to find ways to navigate the tricky terrain of each level, constantly swapping the noxious air to blow up and shrink their space suits to fit into small spaces, clog up passages, or bounce up to new heights.
The game is challenging enough when there's one player giving it a go, but there's also local play and online co-op, giving two players the ability to swap control (and the fart) between their respective space-janitors. With the second person involved, the challenge becomes a question of how well you can communicate with your partner. It'll take strong coordination to complete even the easiest levels, which could do well to strengthen your personal relationships, or destroy them with putrid smelling, gastrointestinal evacuations.
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