the Stained

the Stained is that kind of little platformer that’s lite on everything except challenges. In this indie title, you have to control a little girl and guide her through a series of 20 puzzling levels.

The idea behind the Stained is simple and very effective. Your character can do the classic platformer stuff along with one more interesting thing. She can jump from one place to another and must do her best to avoid the traps that exist on every level, but she can also manipulate the world around.

In each level, you will find a number of pills which once you eat, have an effect on the level’s structure. For example, eating a green pill causes all the same color level sections from the game to disappear and others of a different color to appear. It’s a nice mechanic for a puzzle game, and although it seems easy to work with, it will drive you borderline insane at times.

the Stained looks and plays like a fairly basic platformer with its pixel-art graphics and the four keys you need to play it. However, the audio background along with a subtle and well crafted dynamic light effect give it a bit of an edge. It’s not much, but they’re well implemented.

The difficulty level of the game will get to you at times because linear thinking doesn’t always do the trick. the Stained has plenty of moments when you need to step back and look at the bigger picture before you start increasing the death counter.

To wrap it up, the Stained might not look like much but it has a lot to offer. The mood is right for a thinking game, the graphics are cute and the gameplay is smooth and well polished. It simply is a game that’s spot on good.