Clever wavelength-tweaking game Waveform – in which you must fit a wave to suit the incoming stream of, uh, things – failed to reach its relatively modest Kickstarter goal, but has nevertheless arrived in the mechanical innards of Steam. There’s a demo on there too, so you can get a taste of what the thing is like before you choose to plunge headfirst into its attractive, wave-based challenges.
As a wave of light coursing through the solar system from Pluto to the Sun, one need not worry about jumping, or shooting, or even moving forward. Your course is already set; you've just got to collect motes of light and navigate obstacles using the only two things that matter to you; wavelength and amplitude.
So the only control you'll need throughout Waveform's 100+ levels is your left mouse button. Dragging the mouse left and right controls the wavelength—how wide your waves are—while up and down hands amplitude, or height. Those two factors alone are what determine if you live to light another day or go out in a blaze of glory.
Waveform starts off easy, presenting a relatively relaxed ride through the cosmos. Soon obstacles appear and navigating your path becomes less about collection and more about survival. Eventually items like particle accelerators (shooting you forward in a straight line) and warps enter the mix, and the whole shebang gets much more chaotic.
So chaotic that you'll completely forget that all you're doing is controlling the height and width of a single beam of light. Waveform's glorious simplicity will either completely charm you or drive you insane. Either is a bargain at only $5.95 on Steam.
Waveform [Steam]