
First-person puzzle games are not a fresh, new concept. The likes of RealMyst, The Talos Principle and Superliminal (amongst many others) represent the genre on Nintendo's venerable hybrid console, and they're a high bar to clear. We don't feel as though Manifold Garden quite reaches those highs, but it's a game with a lot to offer – especially if you appreciate its bizarre, sweeping and somewhat alien perspective tricks.
The visuals are pretty spectacular, in terms of their sheer creativity and the unfolding enormity of its vistas. Moving through its bizarre, M.C. Escher-esque locales never ceases to be interesting; the sense of scale is often daunting, and moving from the game's initially claustrophobic environments to the sudden vastness of its outdoor space inspires genuine awe and more than a little vertigo.

Progressing through the game is easy and intuitive; controls are kept as simple as possible in order to avoid tripping the player up as they navigate the spatial puzzles that make up Manifold Garden's core gameplay. The A button interacts, hitting switches or picking up boxes, while tapping ZR will plant your feet on whichever surface you're aiming at; basically, you're able to re-orient yourself on walls and ceilings in order to get around.
You'll need to, because the puzzles here involve picking up and placing boxes on switches, some of which are found at completely different orientations to the state that you may enter a room in. The catch is that you can't manipulate said boxes without being at the correct orientation, and gravity will only apply to them as long as you remain in such a position. Flicking between walls, ceilings and floors to manipulate multiple elements in order to get a single box where you want it isn't just common – it's pretty much all you do.
Every puzzle is essentially a block puzzle, though the goals aren't always the same. Figuring out how to manipulate gravity in order to "freeze" boxes in mid-air so you can stack further boxes atop them is a headscratcher, and sometimes finding your way through the labyrinthine structures to get where you need to be is a challenge in itself. Thankfully, while difficult, Manifold Garden is rarely frustrating – its rules are extremely clear and it never breaks them in an effort to trick the player. There's also a refreshing lack of hand-holding; it's up to the player to figure out exactly how the game's elements work together, and how to solve the conundrums that arise from its building blocks.

Traversal is both helped and hindered by the fact that the game's world is looped and mirrored – in outdoor spaces, it's easy to accidentally fall into what seems like a never-ending void, only to find yourself landing on the very platform from which you tripped. Given you can't traditionally jump, this is actually the easiest way to cross gaps in the environment, which can lead to a thoroughly exhilarating fall as you wrap around from top to bottom, gradually making your way forwards.
Less impressively, we found that the consistently remarkable spectacle of Manifold Garden is a little at odds with its relatively benign and straightforward puzzle-solving. That's not to say it's bad, or that said puzzles aren't fun to figure out, it just struck us as being a little detached from the presentation. Your goal seems indeterminate – you're effectively opening doors to move forward, yes, but it can be somewhat jarring to move from these outrageous, surrealist landscapes into a smaller room with a bit of glorified Sokoban to play. The gameplay doesn't match the ambition of Manifold Garden's visuals, and with some of the trickier to execute puzzles we found ourselves just wanting to get them over with so we could get back to the cool stuff.

Performance is adequate, running at what feels like a consistent 30fps framerate, though the resolution doesn't hold up so well in handheld mode, leading to some shimmering edges. It's totally playable, though, and the game doesn't chug when you navigate the enormous outdoor spaces. It's responsive to control and generally pretty chill – right down to the ambient soundtrack which makes some of its finickier puzzles less irritating than they could be.
Conclusion
It almost feels like Manifold Garden might have fared better as a "walking simulator" at times; its infinitely-folding environments are works of art from any angle, and it's a little difficult to appreciate them when you're solving yet another samey block puzzle. Still, it'd be churlish to mark it down for being a game when solving its riddles isn't unenjoyable by any stretch of the imagination. We just found ourselves a little impatient to be done with them so we could hurry into the next astonishing panorama of abstract, impossible imagery. Manifold Garden is a lovely game, but sometimes the "game" bit gets a little in the way.
Comments 25
I had this on my watchlist after reconsidering insta-downlaoding it. It appears that was a wise move from me (unusually). I still see some things in this game that would appeal to me so I may wait for a deep discount. Also, I'll wait for some more reviews elsewhere from reliable reviewers like yourselves
Dang! Had this on my wishlist as well. At this moment with 2 playthroughs of Superliminal under my belt, if Manifold can’t hold up to Superliminal’s standard in terms of puzzle tricks and profoundness, I’ll wait for a sale.
It looks okay. 🤷🏻♂️
@Apportal totally enjoyed it; the ending felt so insightful. I played it on release, and again a few weeks later.
6/10
Too much game
(I’m being stupid and facetious. This is a really insightful, helpful and well written review. Thank you)
Great review! I've enjoyed the hour or two I've played of it so far. Yes, I wish it had that pleasing 60fps smoothness, but just like the review states it is totally playable at 30fps. This is kind of random, but I wish they could make a cross between this and Refunct.
Many indie games these days are quick to dazzle visually but lack any cleverness in gameplay. They are essentially someone’s art project and that’s just not for me, no way, no how, nuh-uh...
The review read like a 7/10. Seems kinda harsh, but maybe not.
Free on apple arcade if you do trial offer
@partisan Apple Arcade is just too good to pass up. I wish I knew What the Golf was on that....I wouldn't have gotten it on the Switch.
This is disappointing, as this looked like a real masterpiece in the trailer. Still sounds like it's worth checking out, though.
Strangely enough, I was just thinking about Sokoban in the last few days. That game was legendary. I burned away so many hours.
Hmmm... a lot of reviews of Planet Alpha complain about how the platforming is too basic, and yet that was one of the reasons that makes it one of my favorite games on Switch. I was hoping for a better review, but I'm pretty sure that when I do get around to getting this game the good parts will be good enough for me to forgive the other parts.
Hi, I’m the Manifold Garden developer. I am very disappointed with this review, not because of the score, but because it seems like this review is based only on the first 30 minutes of the game (around 10% of the entire game).
At the start of the game, there is an indoor tutorial area that introduces the basic mechanics: gravity changing, manipulating cubes, and opening doors. After that, the player emerges outside and is first introduced to the world wrapping mechanic, then they come to the first main level. In this first level, there are 3 puzzles. From the screenshots and the text, it seems like the reviewer only did one of these.
Here is a blind playthrough of the game I found on YouTube. Note that this youtuber gets to where the reviewer’s screenshots are in about 30 minutes of gameplay: https://youtu.be/zNpoqF-pTso?t=1521 The full video is about 6 hours and 30 minutes long, and that's close to the average play length.
The review states “Flicking between walls, ceilings and floors to manipulate multiple elements in order to get a single box where you want it isn't just common – it's pretty much all you do.”
While the early area focuses on cube manipulation, the rest of the game goes on to explore many more mechanics. You can plant seed in order to grow trees, redirect streams of water, freeze water to form new paths, manipulate large tetrominoes to create bridges, and solve puzzles with portals. None of this is mentioned here in the review. These mechanics are not in secret or hidden areas either (which the game does include), but are mechanics that you'd experience in a regular playthrough.
Here is a collection of gifs showing gameplay mechanics in the game (spoiler warning): https://imgur.com/a/XCcmmC9
I know a review isn't there to serve the developer. However, we spent 7 years making the game, and another 10 months to bring it to the Switch. I feel we at least deserve a review based on completion of the entire game. Average playthrough is around 6 hours.
If any of you have questions, feel free to let me know. I'm pretty easy to find online (my handle is "williamchyr" pretty much everywhere).
@LEGEND_MARIOID Hey, I'm the developer. I left another comment here with more details so I won't repeat most of it. This reviews seems to be based only on the first 30 minutes, and fails to mention much of the rest of the game. I will of course let you be the judge, but I do encourage you to check out other reviews.
@JasmineDragon Hey Jasmine, I'm the developer. You can see more information in the other comments I left. This review only seems to cover the very beginning of the game. There are a lot more mechanics that are not mentioned at all here. Here's a link to the other mechanics (spoiler warning): https://imgur.com/a/XCcmmC9
@williamchyr Thank you for your reply. I respect the reviewer's opinion on the game and I general consider this site's reviews "reliable"
I have noticed that it is metacriticing at 75% on Switch, 84% on PC and 79% on PS4. So that suggests to me it may well be worth a punt.
Does this game generally perform (in handheld & docked) as well as the PC and PS4 versions?
@LEGEND_MARIOID Yes, the game does perform comparably. The biggest difference is the framerate - the game is 60FPS on PC and PS4, while 30FPS on Nintendo Switch. Of course, like all games, it's 720p in handheld and 1080p docked.
We are very proud of the performance and visuals on the switch. It runs very smoothly. The game renders incredibly large levels, and all scene transitions are handled smoothly in the background, so there are no loading screens once you start.
In fact, the footage shown here in the Nintendo Indie World was captured directly from the device in docked mode: https://youtu.be/2BogOkvVIj8?t=999 You can see for yourself.
@NinChocolate Not to say this wasn't an art project for me (because it very much was). However, there is much more to the game than is shown or hinted at here in this review. Here's a collection of the gameplay mechanics (spoiler alert): https://imgur.com/a/XCcmmC9 I'll let you be the judge of whether they are clever or not.
@williamchyr no problem. I work in the arts and can definitely appreciate an art project. I was super impressed with the game’s visual design. It’s good to get your further explanation. Producing content is a tough cookie so I wish you the best, I really do
@williamchyr Hi William. I've already replied to your original email to cover the concerns raised here, but I thought it prudent to add my response here as well, as you've raised the issues in a public forum and I imagine our readers will want to know how we intend to address them.
We've spoken with Stu and he can confirm he did of course play beyond the first 30 minutes (it took him around 8 hours to finish the game, he says) - the reason the screens are taken from the early portion of the game is because we generally try to avoid spoilers with our screenshots, and therefore try to capture them early-on in each game, when possible (Stu has also noted that the original embargo email from yourselves warned against ruining things for players by showing off stuff later in the game). We see this as a better approach than simply using press screenshots.
Stu also stands by his comments about moving blocks; while you can indeed plant seeds and change the direction of water, these actions – while varied – are nonetheless accomplished by moving blocks around. The reviewer ultimately stands by his opinion that the core mechanic of the game is moving blocks around levels; from the gameplay footage I've witnessed, this does seem to be the case. We feel that a review doesn't have to be an exhaustive list of every feature contained within a game; just because something isn't mentioned in the text doesn't mean it has been ignored.
It's worth noting that our sister site, Push Square, came to very much the same conclusion regarding the puzzles, despite the fact that the reviewers played the game in isolation and didn't confer with one another. I also note that Official PlayStation Magazine states that the game is "Worth playing for the visuals alone, to take in and explore these strange and beautiful environments, which will be timeless. The puzzles are fun, but not as revolutionary."
Hopefully this addresses your concerns. All the best with your future games!
Seems fair, I wanted to love this game but got bored at 30 mins on apple arcade, but please don't take that as a critism I'm mainly driving n shmups man
@williamchyr Just want to say that this game was awesome. I was looking forward to this for 3 years, watched some of your developer videos, and I was blown away when I finally got to play it. I'm based in Chicago and it's been wonderful to watch someone from the local art community create something that so many people can enjoy. Looking forward to your future projects!
@williamchyr William, glad I can actually talk to you on here haha. This game was one of the best experiences I've had on the switch. just wanted to let you know. I literally rated it 10/10 and recommend to tons of my friends who all loved it too. Thought this review was weirdly harsh and strange to me. Hope you know there are many of us who absolutely loved this game. Thanks for working so hard to make this!
@williamchyr
Thank you for this labour of love. I got this game randomly on sale after being intrigued after seeing a preview and can say it's a solid 9/10 for me. I don't even usually purchase puzzle/physics games like this, but the artistic design, colour, vibrancy, tone and aesthetics were just too alluring to pass up. This game was overall an amazing & beautiful experience.
I know it took quite some time and effort to bring Manifold Garden to fruition, but I'd absolutely love if you made another or similar artistic title for Switch! Thank you again!
... Wun can only hope.
@williamchyr I just finished this game the other day. Thank you for a fantastic game! It was relaxing and challenging without being too difficult, and absolutely beautiful. I actually kind of wish you had done some sort of tedious "collect X hidden items" thing, only because I wanted to spend more time in every single ridiculously interesting space in the game, but the constant nagging of "I have 20+ games on my backlog that I bought before this game and haven't played yet" compelled me to keep moving on to the next area. At any rate, I loved every minute of the game and I hope you'll come up with more interesting ideas for games in the future!
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