Nihilumbra is a single-player puzzle-platformer that allows itself to be accessible to both newcomers and veterans of puzzle games, allowing everyone to find some enjoyment and challenge. They do this by creating two modes: the standard story mode and a Void mode (aka hard mode) that is unlocked after completing story mode.

The story revolves around a shadowy figure known as Born. Born was an entity created from a place known as The Void, a place of absolute nothingness. He somehow detaches himself from The Void and ends up in the world of Nihilumbra. He is absolutely stunned by what he finds and begins to explore the world, but all isn’t safe as The Void is after him to make itself one again. It chases him endlessly, destroying everything in its path to get him back. Born tries to run away trying to escape his fate. Will he escape The Void and live in peace, or will he end up succumbing to the nothingness?

Outside of normal walking and jumping, the hook here is with abilities known as colors that you can use to alter the world. These colors are blue, green, brown, red, and yellow (not including “Void” which is basically an eraser). Blue allows you to turn the ground into slick ice, which allows you and your enemies to move much more quickly and is useful for jumping far or making enemies fall down pits. Green makes the ground and walls bouncy, but you can only go slightly higher up from your initial jump. Brown makes the ground and walls sticky, which can be used to sneak past sleeping enemies or stick foes to a wall. Red allows you to turn the walls and ground into lava, which slowly damages you and your enemies. Yellow allows you to create electric connections to machines in the ground to give them power.

One of the main problems I find with this game is that it can only be properly played in handheld mode. To use the colors involves drawing on the switch to show where you want the color to be placed, meaning that you can’t play the game on the TV. I would give this a pass if the Switch wasn’t capable of motion controls, but it can, in fact, use motion controls even if a gyroscope control isn’t the most accurate. This severely limits how you can play the game.

All in all, Nihilumbra is a fun platformer, which allows for those who are new to puzzle games and those who are well versed in them to enjoy the game equally. With the creative and unique elements that are used in each puzzle, it is definitely a nice game for its price.