InnerSpace, developed by PolyKnights and published by Aspyr Media, is a relaxing yet frustrating puzzle-exploration game that has players explore the Inverse, a realm where physics are inverted and worlds are connected through gates. The relaxing aspect of InnerSpace comes from its beautiful scenery and soothing sounds, but these relaxing qualities are ruined by the games inability to tell you what you need to do.

InnerSpace has you play the role of the cartographer who uses his airframe to soar through the sky and dive into the game’s tranquil oceans. While simply flying around is fun, your mission in the game is to help the Archaeologist recover the last remaining relics of the Inverse before they are lost forever. To find these relics you need to explore every corner of the world you are in, and well it isn’t an easy task as I often found myself getting lost in a maze of similar looking locations. As you help the Archaeologist you learn more about those who once called the Inverse home along with encounters with gods that still wander a dead realm.

At first glance, InnerSpace is a relatively easy to understand game, but the apparent ease is rather deceptive as the game’s numerous puzzles and boss battles can at times be a convoluted mess that requires trial and error to complete. For example, in one world I saw birds flying around and after getting close to one bird it turned blue and began to sing and fly away. In a mixture of curiosity and confusion, I followed the bird hoping it meant something, and fortunately it did as following the bird was the key to completing the puzzle the world had set before me. While letting players discover how to complete a task is fun, I wish InnerSpace provided more information than telling you to fly or swim around and why you should break ropes that hold up structures.

On a positive note, the lack of information regarding the puzzles and boss battles makes completing them feel more rewarding as I would proudly smile knowing I completed a puzzle without any help.

Moving onto the airframes, these are customisable with you unlocking new frames as you progress through the story. On the PC the airframes are pretty difficult to control with a mouse and keyboard so I recommend using a gamepad, but even with a gamepad, I found the controls to be lacking with the likes of the throttle and brake being mapped to the right analogue stick, which also controls which way the frame rolls.

In terms of graphics and audio, the game uses soft colours and electronic music to create a calming environment.

Conclusion

InnerSpace is an enjoyable if not flawed game. While it is great to fly around exploring the various locations, the puzzles and boss battles are confusing and primarily rely on trial and error.

SCORE: 6.5/10

Pros	Cons
+ The graphics and audio create a calming atmosphere	– Puzzles can be a bit of a mess as the game does not offer any assistance
+ The concept is interesting

 

Developer	Publisher	Genre	Rating	Platform	Release date
Polyknights	Aspyr Media	Exploration	3+	PC, PS4, Switch, XBox One	January 16, 2018

*A review code was provided by the game’s publisher.*

For more information on InnerSpace, visit http://polyknightgames.com/project/innerspace/.