No, Human

In these sceptical times, humanity has never been less sure of its place in the universe.

The optimism and swift technological progress of the Space Age seems like a long time ago. Still, we can’t help looking out to the stars, dreaming of expansion.

No, Human posits that our colonial ways will lead to a calamitous meeting with The Universe (it has a large pumpkin-like head, apparently) in the not too distant future.

This is no Arthur C. Clarke-style space odyssey, though. Rather, it’s a light-hearted physics-based puzzler dressed up in a space suit.

You take control of The Universe (talk about empowering the player), a playfully destructive force that takes pleasure in flicking flaming comets into humanity’s space pioneers.

Through 50 levels you must find a way to send your limited arsenal of comets into spacecraft, stations, and astronauts. You often need to bounce them off of larger meteors, utilise the gravitational pull (or push) of other heavenly bodies, and even ignite further flaming comets for your use.

It’s a refreshing approach to a fairly well established gameplay mechanic: getting one object to meet another through the clever use of basic physics.

The space setting and tongue-in-cheek cod-philosophical tone mark it out as something special, even if the translation is frequently clunky and nonsensical.

The puzzles, too, are absorbing and quite ingenious. There’s a perfectly pitched learning curve, so that the game makes you feel like a genius for improvising a solution.

The main problem with No, Human, though, is its brevity. 50 levels may sound like a lot, but they’re each solved in seconds, with some serving as amusingly throwaway distractions. Only a couple of later stages provide a challenge. You're sure to whiz through the whole game in around an hour.

It’s a problem seemingly acknowledged by the developer Rolf Fleischmann in that you’re only able to submit your high score online once you’ve completed the entire game.

The graphics, while distinctive, are on the basic side. Although the 3D models make for satisfying collisions between comet and metal, the larger rocks in particular are woefully lacking in detail.

Despite these weaknesses, No, Human is an imaginatively designed and well-built physics puzzler. I'm just not sure it’s got sufficient fuel to complete its journey into the unknown.