Typoman Review

Typoman is a puzzle platformer created by Brainseed Factory and it has you play as a character who has to restore light to the world by creating words from letters. The art style is aesthetically pleasing and it has a nice soundtrack to match. The game looks similar in style to games like Limbo, which is no bad thing, and introduces some interesting game mechanics and puzzle solving.

You start the game in a dark and dingey world. You acquire a special power that helps you bring light to the world. As you make your way through the game you learn different techniques and abilities that are then tested against bosses. The mechanics behind solving Typoman‘s puzzles are wholly unique, and make good use of the Wii U’s gamepad. The game starts out simple enough, but the challenge slowly increases as you face more troublesome challenges. There are also “censors” that zap any letters that come too close, trap-words that can’t be overcome unless they’re turned into other words, and creatures that will kill you if you can’t escape them.

I got great satisfaction when figuring out various puzzles and scenarios. I also loved how if you got stuck in a certain section you have the option to use the game pad to look up story paragraphs. This helps you work out what words you need to create and then move forward. There’s also a hint button option if you truly get in a jam! First, you’ll be presented with a clever riddle that relates to the challenge. If that doesn’t help you, a second hint will highlight the word you have to create that solves the current step of the puzzle. I have to admit I needed to use the gamepad on a couple of occasions and frankly its nice to see the gamepad used in a game properly from once.

The puzzles do increase in difficultly and takes some patience. The puzzles were challenging, but not as rewarding as those as the beginning of the adventure. It’s a shame the platforming controls are incredibly stiff which wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it weren’t for the fact that a large part of Typoman ends up being platformer challenges. Luckily, there are no lives and dying simply respawns the player back to the start of the last puzzle, but it’s still frustrating since these types of things happen throughout the whole game.

The style and music in the game manages to portray a unique style and emotion that draws you into the world. The music compliments the games style really well. We don’t often see games that use word puzzles like this and in my opinion was a fresh idea that I enjoyed exploring.

It’s a shame the puzzles became very similar, however, and the mechanics kept me entertained until the end. I was also really pleased with the ending and I felt a real sense of achievement.

Overall Typoman is an interesting puzzle game with platforming elements. It took me around 4-5 hours to finish, which in my opinion was about the right length for this type of game (no pun intended!). Unfortunately, the game lacks post-game content or alternate game modes. It’s the kind of game you could possibly replay in time once you have forgotten the puzzles though. The game manages to blend an awesome world, unique soundtrack and decent puzzles that kept me entertained enough to the end. It could have been made better if there were more variety to the puzzles and possibly different game mode options but all being said it’s a good game that’s worth taking a look at if you liked Limbo or games that require a bit of thought.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.