Probably everyone has stared at least once in their life at a rainbow and thought how beautiful the colors are. Hue is a puzzle-platformer game developed by Fiddlesticks Games and published by Curve Digital for PC, Consoles and a large variety of handhelds (including the PSVita and the WiiU) that uses exactly this beauty for a fun and entertaining puzzle game thats wrapped into a deep story. In recent times the game has been available on steam for free to keep, so lets take a look if is still worth the time and money after 7 years.
General information
Hue is a game that challenges the player to manipulate the color of the world in order to solve puzzles and explore the environment. The game’s story revolves around Hue, a young boy who lives in a monochrome world. Hue’s mother, a scientist and an artist, has disappeared after experimenting with a mysterious ring that can alter the color of reality.
Hue sets out to find his mother and the ring, while also discovering the secrets of the colorless world and its inhabitants. He makes friends and encounters werid creatures. The story is very nicely delivered over letters his mother wrote to Hue and unfolds slowly. In some places the narrating voice reading the letters even gets quite philosophicals with questions regarding the definition of existence, creativity and more.
Game mechanics
The games main mechanic is the ability to change the background color of the world at any time. Resulting out of this, Hue can make objects of the same color disappear in the background or reappear if they have a different color. This leads to creating new paths and possibilities in the puzzles. For example, Hue can make a purple wall disappear by also changing the background to purple. Or he switches the background to blue to see a purple ladder to the next platform. Over time the game introduces new colors that you can change which keeps the entertainment high. The puzzles also get increasingly difficult and sometimes require a careful planning an timing to do the level.
Graphics
The games graphics are simple but realixing, with a minimalistic style that contrasts the black and white monochrome world with the glowing colors. The games soundtrack is also fitting into this narrative with a few calming piano melodies that really catch the mood of the game.
Conclusion
Hue: Hue is a colorful game offering a unique mix of satisfaction and puzzle experience. The game is not too long but very entertaining with its variety and perfect when you want to play in a short break. Moreover the story is quite well written and frames the whole game with its ethical aspects. – GLPC: phantom
