Eclipse

Our sun is the reason life is so prosperous on this planet, although it’s technically because of the excellent positioning, because every other planet in the solar system receives energy from the sun. However, some receive too much of it and others too little, which means that life would have a very difficult time even if everything else was in order, including things like air composition and soil.

Eclipse is a first-person puzzle game with survival elements in which your goal is to survive for a whole day while avoiding the deadly sun rays that come in through the window. Obviously, the game takes place in a different world where the sun is too strong for humans to survive a direct encounter with its rays, which is why you must remain hidden and far away from any windows.

On the other hand, the humans in the game have managed to harness the power of their star by building a reactor to utilize it. This reactor keeps everything running, which is why it’s important that it is maintained in tip-top shape. Hence, it must be turned off regularly in order to release the stored energy and make room for more, and that’s your job.

The whole game is basically a collection of rooms that contain certain buttons you must press. The sun goes around the building and you must keep up with it by activating the shields at the right time, while also staying away from the windows. It’s pretty disorienting at first, especially since there’s no in-game tutorial, but becomes pretty obvious after you play it for a few minutes.

As for the graphics, it must be said that there’s not much to admire landscape-wise, but the lighting is exquisite. The shadows move nicely along with the sun, which creates a pretty intense atmosphere, together with the smooth post-processing effects. However, there are no textures and nothing interesting to look at, not to mention the fact that it’s quite a strain for your computer.

Even if it’s very short and it doesn’t feature an actual story, Eclipse is still a pretty nice game. The gameplay mechanics it features are nowhere to be found in any other game, which is always nice to see.