Semblance

About this game

Latest news

• Press Coverage·6 Jan 2019

  Charity speedrunning marathon Awesome Games Done Quick 2019 starts today

  I hope you didn t have anything planned this week, because speedrunning extravaganza Awesome Games Done Quick starts today at 4:30pm GMT. If you ve never tuned in before, AGDQ is a weeklong, 24/7 marathon of games, all played as fast as possible, while streaming on Twitch and raising a whole shedload of cash for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. What s not to like? (more…)
  Read full article on Rock, Paper, Shotgun

• Patch Notes·22 Oct 2018Official

  Semblance v1.0.3 Update + OST Release

  https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32274558/73e88b89951edb0db8c5ed847ea0a4ad609ff0c0.jpg For links to the Semblance Original Soundtrack, please check out the Nyamakop social media pages. BUG FIXES - Music now fades rather than cutting when transitioning from level to overworld minor - Fixed platform highlighting constantly even if there's no reset beam touching it USABILITY FEATURE ADDITIONS - After game completion, the player can revisit the entire game without the game resetting to the title screen. This allows players to find all the secrets/crystal mosquitoes while still allowing them to finish the game. (You cannot do the ending again) - Allow players to pause during final cinematics - Removed certain Menu options in final cinematics - Player can reset squish at all points during the game, not only in puzzles - Option to turn off auto dashing assists in pause menu - Added achievement for killing all crystal mosquitoes in game. - Added Cloud Save
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Benjamming)

• Patch Notes·10 Aug 2018Official

  Semblance Patch version 1.0.2 live

  Folks, here's a new patch for Semblance! This is mainly about reducing the likelyhood of getting stuck in walls, as well as some gamplay fixes! Full patch notes below! This generally improves the quality of life for gameplay https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32274558/9352984f91d9ae1108df001a389ea06f2f92b1a9.jpg BUG FIXES Eliminated Infinite dashing, which could result in Squish getting stuck and player unable to access menu. Drastically reduced likelihood of getting stuck in walls Various hitboxes adjusted for clearer feedback Missing dressing in certain camera views Fixed Semblance title screen remaining after finishing game and letting credits roll fully Fixed certain shape changes not being recorded for “Polymorphic” Achievement GAMEPLAY FIXES Removed ability to open debug menu Feedback for platform not deforming (if deformation attempted with nearby platform) now pushes Squish away, stopping Squish getting stuck in walls. Squish now gets thrown out from underneath portals when loading into an area. Changed order of totems indicators on World 2 tree to be clearer on position of totems in world 2 Rare corrupted save files occurrences now result in text indicator and not showing black screen Localisation for corrupted save file text indicator Intro scene reloads correctly if you enter intro scene tree and leave it without collecting essence. Reinstated small cooldown for dashing when thrown out of platform Fixed flying laser from clipping into wall in ending area. In World 2, made the vertical velocity of being thrown sideways out of platforms occur more reliably Puzzle tweaks/workarounds fixed (specific puzzles list below) Format: (level - puzzle) World 1: 1-6 4-5 4-5 World 2: 2-5 5-1 5-3 6-1 World 3 1-5 3-1 3-3 3-5 5-2
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Benjamming)

• Press Coverage·6 Aug 2018

  Semblance review - a wibbly, wobbly platformer that turns the genre upside down

  Before there were fidget spinners, there were stress balls. You remember them, right? Those squishy, malleable balls of goo that could be squeezed and pulled and manipulated in a myriad of eye-watering ways, ostensibly to help people channel their frustration and anger, but only ever really used to sedate restless hands for a day or two before being shoved, forgotten, into a desk drawer. In Semblance you play as one of those squishy, malleable balls of goo that leaps and squeezes and wiggles, collecting orbs to reverse the thin layer of infectious crust that's creeping across your soft, moldable world. A press release calls it an "engaging, yet minimalist story" but I don't quite truck with that, because I didn't even realise there was a story, not until I'd finished the game and sat down to write this review. That's not a criticism, though; at its heart Semblance is a puzzle game, and while we all know how important - how effective - storytelling has become in contemporary gaming, it's never essential, not really, not if the bones of a game are strong enough to carry it without the meat of a narrative. To its credit, Semblance's bones are gorgeous. Read more…
  Read full article on Eurogamer

• Press Coverage·27 Jul 2018

  What it's like to launch an indie game in 2018, hour-by-hour

  Thumbnail image via Cukia "Sugar" Kimani I first met Ben Myres at PAX East 2017, when he spotted my press pass from across the hall, cut off my path, and quickly escorted me to the his single-monitor setup in one of those austere Indie Megabooth slots. That was the first time I played Semblance, which was then a thesis project Myres and his partner Cukia "Sugar" Kimani worked on together as students at South Africa's University of Witwatersrand. You play as a magenta blob in a Seussian landscape who has the power to deform the geometry around you by jumping into it headfirst—like a Mario who didn't live in a purely right-angled world. It brought to mind puzzle platformers like World of Goo and Fez. They were looking for a publisher to finance it. A year later I'm across the street from the LA Convention Center at Good Shepherd Entertainment's E3 showcase, where a full version of Semblance is set up in a rickety wooden booth. Myers and Kimani had finally found their publisher, and were already planning for the treacherous path ahead in a crowded marketplace. This was a challenge that both inspired them and terrified them. Earlier that week, Myres made a wonderfully hammy pitch on Giant Bomb's E3 night show. "Semblance, is the first real platformer," he said, with a mock deadly seriousness, before breaking. "It's a platformer. You gotta go shock tactics." Semblance officially unlocked on Steam this Wednesday. Kimani and Myres were back in South Africa, and Skyped with me throughout the evening to give me updates on what they were doing and how they were feeling. What follows is a series of dispatches that detail the anxieties and excitement that come with launching a project you've worked on for three years into the unforgiving maw of the Steam front page. 11 am Eastern (5 pm South Africa): Two hours before release The sun has set in South Africa, and Ben and Sugar are already drinking. Their ba...
  Read full article on PC Gamer