Demo Review 41: And Yet It Moves

We don’t get much of a backstory for this one. We follow a white guy – and by white, I mean chalk-white – as he ventures across levels containing who knows how many death traps. You move with the Nunchuk’s analog stick and jump with Z. You can also press A and turn the Wii remote – yes, turn – with your hand to flip the world around. See, the main point of And Yet It Moves is that you can play around with the gravity. Walls become platforms, platforms become walls. There’s a catch, however; this main character really has the consistency of a chalk; if he falls from too high, he’ll crash to the ground in pieces. And since the character’s momentum remains even if you twist the world around for a softer landing, it may already be too late. And crash, your character will need glue to put himself back together. Thankfully, there are multiple respawn points, represented by a black guy – no, I don’t mean an African-American type of guy, I mean a character of solid black with white outlines. Like a drawing on a blackboard.

I’m starting to realize the theme… Chalks, blackboards…

The first level takes us in a cave, where we get to test the controls. We also get to see some of the traps, such as a large boulder that falls along with the character… And big masses of blackness akin to endless pits, which we must avoid. The second level, a forest area, introduces swinging platforms, which are affected by the gravity, which means that if you want to land on them without any danger, you’ll need extra caution. Last but not least, the third level introduces an environment that decided it had had enough of standing still while you flipped the gravity to your heart’s desire. Now, branches and other platforms will, too, spin around to make things more difficult for Chalk-Boy. The third level also marks the end of the demo version, though it’s still possible to earn a few achievements during this short playthrough. The previews for the full version show even more complex traps for Chalk-Boy, which all look more interesting than the levels available in the demo.

I felt the demo was kind of boring, but that’s probably because the early levels served more as a tutorial of sorts. The art style is pretty good, and the game as a whole is a great concept, though it’s a very difficult game to master and sometimes, victory hinges on the exact moment needed to mess around with the gravity. Beyond being a platformer, this is also a puzzle game. It’s not much for me, but feel free to download the demo and give it a try.