Just one of many levels in the game. Prepare to curse your brain and eyes.

Game Title: Continuity
Developer: Ragtime Games (website/Kongregate Profile)
Publisher: Ragtime Games (website)
Platform: Web (Freeware, Flash)
Rating: E (Everyone) [Estimated]
# of Players: 1
Genre: Puzzle/Platformer

   Before I begin to review Continuity I should make it quite clear that I am among the number of gamers who abhor "slide puzzles". If you're unfamiliar with what a "slide puzzle" is, think of those 9x9 plastic squares we'd had as children. The square contained 8 tiles, each with a number in ascending order from 1-8. One space was left open, and your goal was to slide each tile until you had all the numbers in the correct ascending order from top to bottom; left to right. Now, apply this logic to a video game, where you have to match individual tiles up to form a picture (as in Resident Evil 4, during Ashley's sequence). These are, in my opinion, the work of an arse. And that's what I thought, until I played Continuity.

   To say that Continuity is a work of art is to highly under-rate the game in terms of not only functionality, but aesthetic and enjoyability. There are a total of 32 levels to complete, each with their own design and layout. The main goal of the game is to grab the key(s) strewn about the level, and then make it to the red door exit. This all sounds simple enough, until you're introduced to the game's main mechanic: The Slide Puzzle. When you begin a level, you'll start out in a zoomed out screen, which displays all the "rooms" in the level. Your character will be placed at a specific spot, and you will be required to figure out how to reach each objective.

   But there's a catch: You have to slide each room along the fixed space on the screen to line up each room. To further complicate the puzzle, the edge of the screen you're intending to pass into must mirror the edge of the screen you're in. Perfectly.
   Meaning, that if you have three pathways on the right edge, one of a larger size than the other two, you need to match that up with a room that has a similar design on its left edge. If not, you cannot pass through. Also taken into consideration are areas that are walls. So if you have an edge made up of no walls, it will not connect to an edge with any walls. No matter how small.
   It creates a mechanic so fluid, and engaging, that you'll be spending more of your time planning your next move ahead of time. Which you must. This is because Continuity has another trick up its sleeve. That is the fact that you won't be using every room on the board. In fact, some are designed to either be "dummy" rooms, or to trap you in the level.