Game Reviews

Antitype review - A clever-designed minimalist word game

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iOS
| Antitype
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Antitype review - A clever-designed minimalist word game
|
iOS
| Antitype

Borderleap's word games have all been linked by a similar idea, the focus on the letters themselves.

Word² had you shifting columns of letters to create words, while Alpha Omega provided the correct first and last letters of misspelled words and asked you to figure out the rest.

Antitype approaches this idea from a new angle, delivering a challenging world puzzler that uses it simple ruleset to great effect.

Opposites attract

You're only ever piecing two words in any Antitype level. Like a crossword puzzle, the words will be linked by a theme - SIZE, TIDE, DIRECTION - and more importantly, the words will be antonyms.

Every correctly-placed letter brings you closer to your goal, using hints derived from a level's clue and word length.

The two-word design keep Antitype's stages short and focused, perfect for those who want a quick puzzle fix without the time investment needed for a full crossword, nor the fast reactions needed for more intense word games such as Spelltower and Letterpress.

There's no score or timer to worry about in Antitype.

However, being able to play at your own pace doesn't mean Antitype is easy,

Two letters away

Antitype isn't just a clever word game, it's also a challenging puzzler where every move must be carefully planned.

Rather than manually selecting letters, you tap on the available letters to affect the grid. Every tap manipulates the adjacent tiles, switching them to the next letter (A to B, B to C, and so on).

Those simple rules makes every stage a lean logic puzzle, asking you to think two or three steps ahead. Your actions will change the available letters and how those new letters can be used.

You need to think about which letter to tap first, since you can only switch a letter twice before it's locked in place. Which letters do you want to change, which do you want to remain unchanged?

Sans hints and undoes, Antitype's levels can become quite frustrating. And there's no additional means to progress if you get stumped on a particularly tricky stage. An erroneous tap and the solution to a puzzle can be impossible to reach.

You'll come to appreciate the small scale and focus on Antitype's puzzles, when you don't have to worry about resetting a larger grid if you're stuck.

However despite those potential frustrations, Antitype's clever design shines bright, delivering a tricky word puzzler in a minimalist package.

Antitype review - A clever-designed minimalist word game

Easy to grasp but challenging to solve, Antitype's puzzles offer clever distilled word games
Score
Christian Valentin
Christian Valentin
Christian always had a interest in indie games and loves to give the games that so easily go unnoticed the attention they deserve