0RBITALIS leaves Steam early access with level editor, daily challenges - [INDIEGAMING]

I'm writing this article on my laptop even though I'm sitting in front of my desktop computer. I've managed to achieve a very stable satellite orbit in 0RBITALIS on my desktop, but the game pauses if you tab out. I will call 0RBITALIS an action puzzle game because there really isn't an established genre that fits it better, though I don't think the game has "puzzles" so much as "situations the player must survive for a certain amount of time." It's been in early access for a while, and now that it's officially out, it's time to take a look at its final form.

For those unfamiliar with the game: each stage in 0RBITALIS askes the player to send forth a satellite amidst one or more celestial bodies and keep it alive for an amount of time that varies from stage to stage. After choosing an initial angle and amount of power, the player has no more influence over the satellite's path. They must watch and hope their chosen path will last long enough without sending the satellite too far off the screen. As the player advances through the game, they'll encounter new types of celestial bodies and occasionally new rules as well.

I don't really want to call it a puzzle game because "puzzle" implies a specific end state that needs to be achieved through manipulation of mechanics. That's not really how this game works. You could throw satellites around until you get lucky, if you wanted to, and although you can learn how to better anticipate the paths your satellite will take, there's an element of luck to it no matter what you do. In that sense, it kinda feels like a sandbox... but "sandbox" implies being able to do whatever you feel like, and that's not accurate, either. Although it's not quite a puzzle game, "puzzle" is still the closest description we have.

Right now, as I watch spirograph-like patterns turn a stylized, red solar system into a flower at a gradually decreasing framerate (the game keeps track of everywhere the satellite has been as well as calculating where it will go), I find myself debating whether or not the term "zen-like" applies to 0RBITALIS. Sometimes it does, such as when you get a satellite flying around for several minutes, but other times a level feels impossible and the game can become frustrating.

0RBITALIS's launch out of early access comes with some large and small changes to what the game was a year ago. The small changes are mostly interface and usability things. The large changes are the addition of a level editor and daily challenges. The game now has Steam Workshop support, too, allowing players to share and download user-made levels and extending the value of the game.

The level editor, like the game itself, comes with no instructions and relies on visual indicators to help the player understand what is going on and how to use it. This works because you can easily test the level from within the editor; within minutes you can easily get in all the trial and error you need to fully understand how the editor works. While in play mode, you just hit the escape key to go back to the editor. Playtesting mode has a serious flaw that the unwary could run afoul of, though, which is that hitting M, the hotkey for going to the campaign star map, still works. Hitting it takes you straight to the campaign with no chance to save your work.

Overall, the game is beautiful with good visual indicators and should appeal to many who like action puzzle games and some people who don't besides. If you're looking for a game with puzzles to solve, 0RBITALIS might be a little too sandboxy to scratch that itch, depending on your preferences. The level editor and daily challenge had a lot of replay value to the game.

You can grab the Steam version for 25% off the regular $10 price right now. It supports Windows and Mac.

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