Shivering Stone is a single-screen block pushing puzzle game, aka Sokoban, built around a snowy visual theme. Using only the analog stick and the “A” button, gameplay is simple and built around trial and error. This digital download only costs a few bucks too.
Playing as a young man portrayed as a tiny sprite, the goal is to push boulders onto buttons that open the gate to the next stage. The gimmick, just like in those icy Zelda dungeons, is that the boulder stops when it collides with another object; it does not move one tile at a time. Therefore, the order and direction in which boulders are moved is the challenge. While the difficulty increases throughout the 50 stages, the challenge remains more easily paced.
Keep in mind, there is no hint feature nor is there an undo button. However, pressing “Y” instantly restarts the current puzzle which is a handy feature. However, the playable character walks rather slowly which is tedious; I really wish there was a dash button. Plus, sometimes the pushable boulders get hung up on strange one-off pixel hitboxes that might require an annoying and unfair restart.
To get a glimpse of the gameplay, check out my stream of the first handful of stages embedded in this article.
Other than the clean pixel art and pleasant yet limited soundtrack, there isn’t much else to say. There is no replay value, no leaderboards, no things to unlock, no multiplayer, and no extra features. It is a simple game, one that you’ll delete from your hard drive as soon as all Achievements are earned. Not that it is necessarily bad, but rather bland and much more on the empty side.
SCORE: 5/10
Also Play: Fluffy Milo
Not As Fancy Looking As: Cyber Protocol
Don’t Forget About: The Traveler’s Path
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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