When I first saw SCHiM peek out of the shadows back in 2021, my interest was immediately piqued by its striking contrast art style and inventive gameplay idea. It’s not hard to see the potential for a game involving jumping from shadow to shadow to reach new locations and objectives, since, well, everything’s got a shadow! It’s a concept that has yet to be explored with this type of whimsy. As the game came into focus over the years, the vibe and feel of SCHiM became more established, blossoming into one that focused on nifty platforming and encouraged interaction with every shadow you came in contact with, all while wrapped in a beautifully colored package that had you hopping smoothly across a Dutch/European-inspired city and countryside. I’m glad to report that after years of waiting, I had the chance to play through SCHiM before its release and was relieved that the unique idea became a really fun reality.
So what’s a schim?
A schim is the soul and spirit of an object or living being. Everything in the world has one, and it should never be separated! You play as a schim that’s been torn asunder from its human counterpart and has to catch up to them to be reconnected. As you play, you observe your human go through many stages of life, grief, and happiness, but can never quite catch up. That’s your goal, and your road to accomplishing it is filled with too many environments and objects to name. Swimming from one object’s shadow to another, I visited grocery stores, train stations, busy roadways, a zoo, a seaside town, a beach, and many others on my 4+ hour initial playthrough. The game has 60+ levels, some of them much shorter than others, but with plenty of secrets to explore as you feel out each animal, person, object, and equipment piece’s special interaction with your schim.
Exploring and experimenting with what you can do while in the dark of all the objects in the game is what makes the game more than just a simple platformer. I never stopped enjoying clicking the interact button to see what noise, effect, or puzzle-assisting movement occurred for each shadow. A dog may bark, a woman sneezes, or a fountain sprays water into the air, allowing you to shoot off into a much-needed area. This mechanic is used in inventive and new ways throughout the experience, and there were more than a couple times where I mentally went, “Oooooh that’s how I do it!” Puzzle and logic games are at their best when they can make you feel like you’re actively firing off those synapse connections to solve their best setups. I’m going to avoid spoiling too many of them because it’s what made this game special.
Controlling the SCHiM
A platformer has to balance between difficulty, smoothness, and functionality. With SCHiM, it’s well-defined what your options are. You either move to get and stay in a shadow and then proceed on to the next shadow in an attempt to reach your “goal object” highlighted at the end of the level, or you miss a shadow and plop on the un-shadowed ground before being blinked back to a shadow that you had previously been established in safely. It was a no-nonsense approach that allowed me to instead focus on my surroundings and what I could move to next instead of fiddling with controls. The penalty for missing a jump was minor, and you even have a little second jump that you get to use if your first initial bound leaves you scrambling for a shadow. It was satisfying to experiment with where I could go instead of being frustrating, and the exploration (sometimes away from the level objective) was sometimes rewarding, as the game features a bevy of collectable objects that enable extra little animations or interactions during the level itself. Some levels I felt like a graceful tadpole-like creature effortlessly flowing between shadows, and SCHiM does a wonderful job of balancing those easy sections with more thought-provoking moments of gameplay. At the end, I felt like they had sufficiently explored the possibilities they made for themselves with the mechanic, and that’s not easy to do sometimes. I would’ve been happy with 30ish levels, but at 60+, it felt like a complete experience.
For critique, regarding the amount of levels and use of more complex mechanics, I do feel like some levels were a little -too- short or lacking in new engaging gameplay. Maybe a few less levels that were mainly just jumping sprees would have been sufficient. I did also find myself a bit lost a couple times, where I wasn’t quite sure what I needed to do to proceed to the objective. Nonetheless, I did eventually figure out what was supposed to be done at every juncture, and when I did figure things out, it was more a feeling of satisfaction at having done so than feeling betrayed by a nonsensical design decision.
Artfully Sound
For as smooth as the gameplay feels, it wouldn’t feel as good if it wasn’t complimented by a thoughtfully-crafted soundtrack and graphical setting. The music and sound effects made by the objects you interact with aren’t over-bearing, and lightly add to that poppy, melodic, flowing feel that the game is going for. Since the game takes place over many years and experiences, you’ll find yourself at various times of day, seasons, and in many environments. Each provides an expansive list of well-executed options for shortened color palettes brought to life in each level. Scrolling through the level list shows off just how many are used throughout SCHiM, and each one works to integrate shadows into the design. Street lamps, remote-controlled TVs, lightning flashes, and more offer graphical and audio clues as to their usefulness to solve each level. SCHiM is a game where I could frame a screenshot from any moment in the game and it would look wonderful on any wall. It’s also one I plan to play the soundtrack of in the background while working. It’s that kind of game.
Final Thoughts
SCHiM was an engaging experience from start to finish. I wasn’t able to put it down once I started, and it surprised me by how much it explored the world it created. The first 30 or so minutes had me catching feelings throughout, and connected to my human in the game until the end, where someone definitely started cutting onions in the seat next to me. With the additional secrets to find, there’s plenty to explore, and if you love the style and feel of the game, there’s definitely enough of it.
SCHiM can be found when it releases July 18th, 2024 at these storefronts for $24.99 retail: Steam & Itch.io, Xbox One / Series X|S, PlayStation 4/5, & Nintendo Switch. Thanks to the publishers & developers for a review copy.
