Colored Effects is a puzzle platformer created by the indie developer Soufiane Tacherifine (TACROU) and released in 2023.
Colored Effects offers navigational puzzles in a 2D platformer space utilizing different player abilities for the player to juggle as they collect the keys required to beat the level. The game has a few boss levels with aspects of precision platforming, and when beat, unlock new abilities the player will use in upcoming levels.
Colored Effects gives the player intricate puzzles that require out-of-the-box thinking and learning how to use the abilities together to beat the level. This game is great for someone who enjoys puzzles but also has some platforming experience as there are a few boss levels at the start of the game that require some precision platforming – once those are complete it’s pure puzzle platforming from then on!
Read on to find more about Colored Effects below!
Gameplay
Colored Effects is a puzzle platformer with aspects of precision platforming thrown in. It features calm, slow-paced gameplay thanks to the intricate puzzles that have the player navigating around the map pushing blocks, pulling levels, and switching abilities to complete the level. On the flip side, there are a few boss levels in the game that have fast-paced, precision platforming gameplay
When playing Colored Effects there are different colored jewels that the player must collect to exit the level. To get these jewels the player must solve various puzzles to navigate, unlock, or switch abilities.
The game’s main mechanic (and where the name of the game comes from) is the ability blocks allowing the player to inherit that block’s ability. When the player jumps on one of these blocks they will change into the color of that block and gain the associated ability:
- Yellow: Dash
- Blue: Double Jump
- Red: Fireball
- Green: Clone
- Purple: Teleport
The game plays on these abilities creating intricate puzzles and unconventional methods to beat the levels. It throws in switches, blocks, fans, and lasers to navigate and manipulate to add complexity to the puzzles.
As the game progresses other methods are introduced to beat the levels – one of those is exiting the level using each ability on the level. This introduces the player in trying to figure out what order they should beat the level in and how it can be done.
The puzzles never feel boring and give that satisfying sensation when you solve them. Playing the game at the same time as a friend will give you extra joy as you both race to figure out the key to beating the level and will allow you to give hints to each other so you’re never truly stuck too!
Depending on your puzzle-solving ability the game may take 3-10+ hours to beat. On the lower side, you’d average 5 minutes per level which is fantastic for a game! We don’t play many puzzle games and it took us 9 hours to beat. We also tried not to give many hints to each other so we could get a sense of how the puzzles were designed.
Overall, I enjoyed the puzzles in Colored Effects and using the different ability combinations to beat the levels. There were times I felt like a genius and others when I felt like my IQ needed improvement!
Gameplay Observations
This section is where I go into features or aspects of the game that seem like points of improvement or bugs that were found during gameplay.
Boss Battles
Another aspect of the game, albeit small, is the boss fights. To me, this is the confusing nature of the game. The first level teaches the player how to beat a level, the second level is a boss battle teaching the player how to dodge moving enemies eventually unlocking an ability.
These 5 boss levels seem to use a more precision platforming methodology which isn’t seen anywhere else in the game – as in, you don’t encounter any enemies or projectiles shooting you! And since they are so early, it’s hard to see a puzzle game lover enjoying these when compared to the puzzles in the majority of the game.
Furthermore, the boss battles are used to introduce the player to using or unlocking a new ability. To me, it makes more sense to create levels building the player’s skills with the abilities and then get them to fight a boss using that skill. With this classic approach, it is much easier to recommend this game to a wider audience.
I’ll note that they may not be difficult for most experienced gamers and they are a lot of fun, but I think they could have been introduced in the flow of the game better which would also allow less experienced players in this genre to succeed.
Save Points
One feature that was nice to have in the game was the save point. The save point acts much like a checkpoint system and is positioned somewhere on the map and allows the player to save as many times as they want.
These save points aren’t necessary to use and in most cases, you’ll never even use them. If you do though, they are persistent between levels – meaning – if you beat a level you used a save point in, you can go back to that level and still use the last save point.
There is a bug with the save point feature though. When the level is saved with a block on a bridge, reloading the level will cause the block to fall through the bridge. Making the save point unusable for cases that you’d want the block saved on the bridge.
Exiting Level
One minor detail that should be fixed (in my opinion) is when you exit a level the game brings you back to the title screen of the game, not the level selection screen.
Level Design
Colored Effects has well-designed levels that create thought-provoking puzzles that require planning, experimentation, and even out-of-the-box solutions. I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzles and many times had to sit and ponder the level until that eureka moment!
As the game progresses the levels introduce new abilities and methods to beat the level. One of my favorite mechanics introduced in the level design is completing the level with each ability. This creates interesting puzzles and gets you to think about the levels in a more dynamic way.
Moving part of the puzzles with the level design, I feel like there are a few places in the levels that should have given the player more space to jump and navigate (level 30 I’m looking at you).
There are times that you’d have to place an ability block in a specific location and then jump over it; however, the spacing between the player and ceiling was just low enough for the player to hit and come down a tad early, thus, forcing you to hit the ability block and change abilities… very frustrating at times!
And then there are the boss levels in the game, 4 ability bosses, and 1 final boss. The boss levels are used to introduce the player to the new abilities by getting them to use the ability to beat the boss.
These bosses are fun but seem very out of place for the style of the game, especially when factoring in that they only occur early in the game, never to be seen again until the last level. It feels odd to introduce a new skill in a hostile environment when the sert of the game is not.
This is a very unconventional method for introducing players to new mechanics and makes it harder to recommend the game to a more casual player, after all, the second level is a boss battle!
Controls
The controlling of the character in Colored Effects feels nice and it reacts as you would expect. The abilities all have their own mechanics which add depth to controlling the character as well as feel and react as expected when using them.
Controlling the player may feel great but there are some tweaks I would have liked to see to reduce frustrations while playing the game.
Utilize More Buttons for Actions
The game should have utilized more buttons for different actions in the game. Having a universal interaction key is very common in games, but it became a problem when moving blocks around levers.
Levers required the action button and pushing/pulling blocks required the action button. This became an issue if you needed to leave a block near a switch (which I did). When you went to push/pull the block you would also trigger the lever – sometimes causing you to restart the level.
Simply having a button for interactions and a button for pushing/pulling blocks would easily solve this issue.
Furthermore, I would have loved a separate button for changing abilities, like a confirm ability switch button. There were levels that I would accidentally land on an ability block and have to reset the levels because of the puzzle being done. I’m sure this would require additional testing, but from observations, it seems as though it could be introduced.
Reload/Reset Button Bindings Locked on Controller
I’m not sure why this is a thing, but for some reason, you cannot change the button bindings for restarting the level and loading from a save point on a controller. It’s allowed for keyboard settings, but not the controller, super strange.
Graphics
The graphics in Colored Effects have a unique, simplistic aesthetic and it matches the feel and vibe of the game perfectly. The white background, bold black outlines, with small details sprinkled into the scene give it a great look.
The few colors that are in the game are used for ability blocks, jewel keys, and important assets allowing them to contrast the scene vibrantly, making them easy to spot!
Overall, the style of graphics is unique allowing a game to stand out from the crowd and be recognized!
Sound
The music and sound effects in Colored Effects are very minimal with only two soundtracks being used and a handful of effects. While this works for the game for its simplistic, yet charming aesthetic, additional soundtracks (even just menu music) and effects would give the player a more memorable, engaging experience.
Soundtrack
Colored Effects lacks in the sound department as it only uses two soundtracks for the game: level music and boss music. Unfortunately, there is no music to be heard on the main screen, and each boss (including the final boss) uses the same soundtrack.
I would have liked to see (or should I say hear!) menu music upon starting the game. It seems like an oversight, or maybe an error not to include it, but there is so much music that is available that I am surprised menu music wasn’t added.
Although every level shares the same soundtrack, the level music sat great in the background (I had my music volume set to 25% volume) and somehow never got annoying or repetitive.
Sure it would have been nice to hear more songs, but having only one song worked! Not only did my brain not have to multitask with puzzles and listening to new songs, but I also didn’t mind the decision to have one song as environments/themes were never introduced to the world.
The boss music fits well with the level music and gives that more intense feeling to the player; however, using a different song for the final boss would have given it a more memorable experience.
Sound effects
Sound effects are only given to the most important features, such as jumping, pressing a button, or a door opening. More detailed, intricate, or more atmosphere-building effects do not exist.
While nitpicky, having a small blip when navigating through the menu would have been a nice touch.
Additionally, having a sound effect while pushing blocks around would have given the game more life. Adding buzzing/hum when the player got close to the laser would have given a better sense of urgency.
Overall, the sound effects get the job done, but if Colored Effects 2 comes out, I’d expect the finer details!
Story
There is no story given to the player in Colored Effects. I thought I’d mention it just in case you’re the type of player who needs or looks forward to a story when playing a game.
For me, I am neutral about whether a game has a story or not, especially when it comes to these types of games as the puzzles are the focus.
Final Impressions
We enjoyed playing Colored Effects and were not expecting so many levels or the amount of time to complete – double win! The puzzles were a lot of fun to figure out and once that ha-hah moment came – it was instant satisfaction.
Interacting with the abilities and learning how to use them to beat the levels was a lot of fun and we were all impressed with how the developer made such intricate levels utilizing them.
There were a few bugs that we ran into, but they were all minor. And only a few nit-picks here and there. But overall, the game is well-polished.
I’d recommend this game to people who enjoy puzzles and platformer games; however, be weary as the boss levels will force you to dodge projectiles and have a more precision platformer vibe. There are only 5 boss levels so it is a very small part of the game and the puzzles will give you hours of enjoyment!
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