Timelie Review

Timelie is a puzzle game involving a girl and her cat. Very little is mentioned at the beginning of the game, you wake up from your bed and after a short tutorial you are thrown in at the deep end trying to work your way through the levels.

Timelie isn't a tough puzzler but the unique way it presents the puzzles is really cool.

In each level you are given a timeline which lets you fast forward and reverse time. At each point you are able to give the girl, or at times her cat companion, instructions such as where to go, what to press, that sort of thing.

Hampering your progress are mechanical enemies that patrol the level, coloured doors that need to be opened with the right keypad or pressure pad, broken bridges that can be repaired with the girls power and even some levels that disappear as you make your way through them.

Yes, the girl has the power to reverse time. With this she is able to restore parts of the level, which mainly consist of holes in the ground and broken bridges. All of this takes time to do so you will need to time these things carefully, as well as watching out for patrols.

The other thing her power can do is kill enemies, but the power isn't always available. To use her power she needs to pick up shiny orbs, and this gives her one charge, so to speak, of her power, so this needs to be managed as well.

Her cat companion, as you'd expect, is also able to help out. Being a cat it can meow, which distracts the guards so the girl can get on with whatever she needs to do.

Levels are really clever in their design and some will definitely have you scratching your head. Some I only barely completed. Most levels do not actually include every mechanic, so you only really need to worry about a couple of things at once.

The levels also come with hidden rewards, these appear when you have completed the level with a certain unmentioned criteria. These usually come in the form of not killing any of the patrols or not using the girls power. It certainly adds to the replayability of the levels.

Timelie is visually impressive and the music really sets the tone perfectly, and while you don't really know much about the girl, why she is apparently in this place, why is she going through all the puzzles, where does it all lead, what do all the symbols mean throughout the game, you do eventually find all this out and will not feel disappointed at the end.

I highly recommend Timelie, it is a great example of a game with a time manipulation mechanic. It took me a good number of hours to complete the game and the ending is worth it.