Sci-fi/noir puzzler Reset making its mark on Indiegogo

Written by Pascal Tekaia — November 28, 2013 at 18:07

For those who are intrigued by multiplayer games but shy away from playing with strangers, now you can play one with the person you know best: yourself. At least, you can if the indie sci-fi first-person puzzler Reset achieves its funding through Indiegogo.

Dubbed as a sci-fi, noir murder mystery/puzzle game, Reset is being developed by Finnish indie studio Theory Interactive. Players will take control of a bipedal robot, traversing a post-apocalyptic environment set on a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean. Solving the puzzles and navigating the wreckage left in the wake of some immense calamity, however, is more than one robot can handle. This is where Reset’s signature mechanic comes in.

Similar to parts of Jonathan Blow’s Braid, Reset requires you to essentially experience a two-player game by yourself. You do this by creating clones, setting a “marker” which will allow you to come back to that particular location and moment in time. After performing an action elsewhere and returning in time to your marker, you will occupy a brand new, cloned version of yourself while the old version goes off and echoes whatever you just did (e.g. pull a lever or push an object). Your new clone can now complement this action by throwing a second switch concurrently with the first or riding on the object being pushed by your old alter ego. Think of multiplayer modes in games like Portal 2, where each person does his or her part to reach a shared objective – only now, you’re going it alone.

Details on the plot are rather sparse, as the developers have made a conscious choice to stay silent on any story elements so as not to spoil anything. However, we do know that the narrative will be closely tied to the game’s 33 distinct puzzles, and that additional bits and pieces of information can be found while freely exploring the 16 square kilometer island.

Reset is currently slated to ship for PC in December 2014 if a minimum crowdfunding pledge goal of €65,000 is reached. The fixed funding Indiegogo campaign will run through December 23 of this year, with a digital copy of the game starting at the €20 tier for a limited time.

To support Theory Interactive’s free-roaming 3D puzzle-adventure and find out more about the game, head to its Indiegogo campaign page.