And Yet It Moves
Encyclopedia
And Yet It Moves is a single-player puzzle platform
game developed by independent
developer Broken Rules. The game was released on personal computer
and WiiWare
platforms, and the name itself is an English translation of Galileo Galilei
's famous (but apocryphal) remark E pur si muove!
, where background elements and characters consist of ripped paper, including the nameless player character
, who appears as a rough pencil line-drawing on white paper. The game is divided into 17 levels that span four different environments.
As with most platform games, the player's character can move left or right and can jump; however the central concept of the game is that the player can rotate the entire world either 90 or 180 degrees around their character as they move; the character retains its momentum
relative to his frame of reference. For example, the player can step off a cliff and then spin the world 90 degrees, turning what was the cliff wall into a flat, walkable surface. The game puzzles are all designed around this concept. The character can tear into pieces from various hazards, such as falling from too high a distance onto a flat surface, being crushed by objects, or falling off into the black void that borders the world. While the player has unlimited lives
, the character will reappear at the last checkpoint he passed prior to being torn.
Other gameplay features are available, such as various time attack modes and optional achievement
s that are awarded for performing stunts.
In the WiiWare
version, players control the game using the Wii Remote
held sideways, and the game world is rotated by twisting the controller in various directions. The Nunchuk and Classic Controller
are also compatible for alternate control schemes. This version also removes the restriction to only rotate in 90 degree intervals and offers three additional levels compared to the Windows and Mac versions.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
game developed by independent
Independent video game development
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
developer Broken Rules. The game was released on personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
platforms, and the name itself is an English translation of Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
's famous (but apocryphal) remark E pur si muove!
E pur si muove!
"Eppur si muove" is an Italian phrase meaning "And yet it moves" said to have been uttered by the Italian mathematician, physicist and philosopher Galileo Galilei after being forced to recant in 1633, before the Inquisition, his belief that the Earth moves around the Sun.Some historians believe...
Gameplay
And Yet It Moves is set in a world stylized to resemble a paper collageCollage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
, where background elements and characters consist of ripped paper, including the nameless player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
, who appears as a rough pencil line-drawing on white paper. The game is divided into 17 levels that span four different environments.
As with most platform games, the player's character can move left or right and can jump; however the central concept of the game is that the player can rotate the entire world either 90 or 180 degrees around their character as they move; the character retains its momentum
Momentum
In classical mechanics, linear momentum or translational momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object...
relative to his frame of reference. For example, the player can step off a cliff and then spin the world 90 degrees, turning what was the cliff wall into a flat, walkable surface. The game puzzles are all designed around this concept. The character can tear into pieces from various hazards, such as falling from too high a distance onto a flat surface, being crushed by objects, or falling off into the black void that borders the world. While the player has unlimited lives
Health (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
, the character will reappear at the last checkpoint he passed prior to being torn.
Other gameplay features are available, such as various time attack modes and optional achievement
Achievement (video gaming)
In video gaming parlance, an achievement, also sometimes known as a trophy or challenge, is a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters...
s that are awarded for performing stunts.
In the WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
version, players control the game using the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
held sideways, and the game world is rotated by twisting the controller in various directions. The Nunchuk and Classic Controller
Classic Controller
The is a video game controller produced by Nintendo. It is used to play games on the Nintendo Wii video game console.-Classic Controller:The Classic Controller is plugged into the Wii Remote in order to be used. It features two analog sticks, a D-pad, face buttons labeled "a", "b", "x" and "y",...
are also compatible for alternate control schemes. This version also removes the restriction to only rotate in 90 degree intervals and offers three additional levels compared to the Windows and Mac versions.
Reception
The WiiWare version received positive reviews upon its release. Popzara's Nathan Evans raved that the game was "a superlative example of an independently-developed game done right, as it introduces a wholly unique gameplay concept, exploits it to the fullest, and has the decency to wrap things up before overextending its welcome."External links
- Broken Rules website
- And Yet It Moves on Steam