Superliminal

Superliminal

Title Card - Good Old Games.

Developer Pillow Castle Publisher Pillow Castle, Noodlecake Studios Published 2019-11-12 Platforms Android, iOS, Linux, Macintosh, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series Genres Passive puzzle, Puzzle Themes Dreams, Science fiction, Surreal Distribution Commercial

Superliminal is a perspective-based passive puzzle video game developed and published by Pillow Castle for Windows on 2019-11-12, and then ported to nine other platforms. The game engine uses Unity, the sound engine uses FMOD.

In the game, the player assumed the role of a patient at a clinic which specializes in dream therapy. Their treatment tries to give you a new perspective on your life by literally altering how perspective works. As you progress, you discover, you can never be sure when you're in the real world or just dreaming.

Personal

Own?	Yes. On Steam.
Won?	Yes. 9/27 achievements.
Finished	2025-02-14.

When the game came out, I remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked very interesting. When it appeared in a Humble Bundle, I got it. I played it across two sessions and finished it on the second.

Review

7	8	8	5	7

Best Version: Windows

Good

• The perspective puzzles are really interesting and a great showcase of impressive technology.
• The environments are wonderful. The corridors and backrooms really look and feel genuine.
• The game gives off a lot of Portal and The Stanley Parable vibes, but still has its own uniqueness.
• I like the playful loading bars.
• The creepy pasta in level 4 was great!
• The music serves as a nice ambient backdrop to the game.

Bad

• Several puzzles are based around finding the one object you need to manipulate in order to progress. One instance of this is fine, even clever, but several just feels tedious.
• The game repeats the same puzzles too many times, I think I had to stack crates to reach a high ledge about six times.
• The apple cloning puzzle had me stuck for a long time before I stumbled upon the answer. The fact that the apples changed color, and that the last one that spawned was glowing made me think the color was significant, but this was a red herring (possibly inadvertently).
• I felt like the ending section, which is just a lot of walking and flipping between scenes without any interaction, dragged on a bit.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

• 

  Title card - Epic.

• 

  Title card - GOG.

• 

  Title card - PlayStation 4.

• 

  Title card - Steam.

• 

  Title card - Xbox One.

• 

  Switch - USA.

Icons

• 

  Android.

• 

  iOS.

Videos

Official trailer.

Longplay.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	One of the narrators is female, but a prerecorded voice is hardly strong.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There is only one female.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Race is never mentioned and no characters are visible.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Links