[PREVIEW] A Difficult Game About Letters – When Spelling Becomes Intense

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I usually stay away from so-called “rage games” since I prefer not to destroy my sanity. Because imagine this: you’ve spent hours on slowly making your way to the end of the challenge just to lose all of your progress in a second by one small mistake. And as I was sure that I don’t want anything to do with it, I stumbled upon a demo of A Difficult Game About Letters – a platformer so adorable and creative that you genuinely can’t get mad at it.

Alphabet to the rescue 

A Difficult Game About Letters is a crayon-style adventure game full of platforming challenges. When letter B gets kidnapped by the evil Question Mark King, all of the remaining letters embark on a daring journey to save their friend. You can transform into any letter of the alphabet and use its shape to solve puzzles, navigate obstacles, and complete increasingly complex trials. 

The nature of this game is evident from the title alone, which refers to another demanding platformer – A Difficult Game About Climbing. These two productions definitely share some similarities in terms of the gameplay, such as climbing aspect, simple yet tricky mechanics and meticulously designed obstacles.  

You decide the rules 

However, the demo that we’re talking about already introduced features that make the game stand out. The most obvious one would be the ability to choose the letter you’re playing as in order to make progress, you need to think creatively, checking which shape is the most suitable for solving the puzzle. Jumping across wide gaps, rolling under obstacles, squeezing through tight spaces, balancing on the edges – each stage requires specific type of letter, but there’s always more than one solution. This allows you to experiment with transformations and precise movements, turning every level into a playground with endless possibilities. 

Second thing that pleasantly surprised me was a possibility to choose the difficulty level. When most games of this type automatically set the bar high, it is a nice change to be able to pick a challenge according to your own abilities. There are 3 modes: easy (with checkpoints and an ability to rewind time for 2 seconds,) hard (only with checkpoints,) and impossible (no mercy, you’re on your own.) Whether you’re looking for an intense challenge or just some fun with platforming, this game has an option that will meet your expectations. 

Playing with imagination 

Last but not least: the graphics. This crayon-style adventure may remind you of children’s drawings – and that’s exactly the case here! It’s worth to mention that Giorgi and Elene, the father-daughter duo, are working together on this game, combining Giorgi’s programming experience and Elene’s lovable illustrations. Those hand-drawn designs make the game feel more genuine and friendly, showing it doesn’t have to be the painful and frustrating experience (unless you choose it to be.) 

Overall, the demo of A Difficult Game About Letters presented many strengths of this title – although obviously there are still some elements that could be more polished or developed even further. Nevertheless, if this level of ingenuity, freshness, and difficulty that we saw in the demo is maintained throughout the full game, then it will be one of the most interesting takes on the genre. For now, you can test your skills and imagination on 25 letters available in the demo –and remember: here spelling rules can’t hold you back.