Sparsevector
Last year , I toy some difficult game . RPGs likeElden Ring : Shadow of the ErdtreeandShiren the Wanderer : The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Islandput my skill to the trial . While I see the Souls - inspiredBlack Myth : Wukongrelatively easier compared to other games in its genre , some of the bosses still really gave me a surd time ( looking at you , Yellow Wind Sage ) .
When December rolled around , I looked around for something more reposeful to meet during the Steam Winter Sale . I just needed a cooldown . As I graze the deals , I came across a new spin on the classicTetrisfor just a few bucks : Tetrachroma . In this puzzler variant , it ’s not just about clearing transmission line ; colouring have to match as well . The beauty ofTetrachromais that it can be as easy or as difficult as you ’d like , and it was the pure plot to thread down 2024 with .
Sparsevector
Or so I thought . I was n’t prepared for how ambitious it would become at a high level . It ’s an engrossing obscure gem that I still discover myself coming back to in the calm early days of 2025 .
Flipping the table
Tetrachroma ’s teaser concept is like to Reversi , a Japanese table biz . Placing different - color pieces adjacent to a line switch the colouring of the cable . Not only do you have to completely fill out a strain but its color also has to be entirely uniform throughout .
Speaking to Digital Trends , developer Sparsevector ( who select to persist anon. ) says that initial inspiration for Tetrachroma come from play Reversi in Nintendo’sClubhouse Gamesseries . From there , he started playing a clustering of differentTetrisandTetris - like games to read the genre . The biggest direct influence total fromTetris : The Grand Master , a fan favorite piece of the series ’ history .
“ I loveTetrisfan game because they all differ in various detail that give them each their own unique feel — clobber like the sound or the optical effect when slice lock , ” Sparsevector tell apart Digital Trends .
Tetrachromahas many different gameplay preferences , ordinarily designate by how many colors there are . In the free maneuver Spectrum mode , duochrome difficultness , where blocks come in two colors , and in trichromatic difficulty , blocks come in three colors , and tetrachrome come in four colors . There ’s even a mode that just plays like straight up Tetris , called monochrome , where you do n’t have to even correspond the colors so as to clear line . This lets players get familiar with the blockage - setting view inTetrisgames before easing intoTetrachroma ’s color - change automobile mechanic at high spirit level . In the Marathon mode , there ’s even the choice to prefer doubly - all-inclusive blocks for an extra challenge .
“ I thinkTetrachromais challenging at a really fundamental level . The pith mechanic ask you to think ahead , ” Sparsevector says . “ Until you make grow an intuition for how the coloring material transformations work , it can be very cunning ! ” As a answer , he tried to be as generous as possible with the game ’s mastery alternative , ocular indicators , and difficultness preferences to make indisputable player have all the tools they need to undertake the challenge .
As someone who does n’t diddle manyTetris - same games , I admittedly had trouble arrest a grip on the color - switching mechanic . I played many , many rounds of the monochrome setting to get the basics down first and I studied up onTetrisstrategies . After getting comfortable , I finally went up to higher difficulties , which meant applying the color - switch arrangement .
What managed to help this intact encyclopaedism physical process was the plot ’s aesthetic and soundtrack . It calmed my nerves whenever I matte defeated when a rung was n’t going my way . Tetrachromaadopts a Y2 K and vaporwave look that ’s rather democratic these days in medicine and manner . Sparsevector sought a facial expression at the was simultaneously retro and somewhat artificial .
“ I thought about how many Tetris players have nostalgia for the time they first learned to playTetris , ” Sparsevector says . “ The game is notTetrisand does n’t wreak how you recollect , so I want the game to finger somewhat like a retention , but not your own . ”
That style was tempt by beats creative person such as Macroblank and Slowerpace , who typically take old and obscure music and turn it into their own edits and compilation . Their record album artwork is often evocative , merge traditional art with corporate logos , text in dissimilar languages , and bluff color palettes . These admit Macroblank’sThe Eternity of Painand Slowerpace’sGoddess of Lightalbums .
“ The ocular esthetic also led me to the style for the game ’s medicine , which is establish around unconventional electronic versions of definitive music , ” he adds .
Sparsevector loves toying with dim-witted mechanism and then build entire games around them . His next coming project , Jump Mechanic , face like it ’ll take his interest even further . In this game , players hold a robot named J.Me that gets lost in a human race of different plot mechanics and keeps stick out to last . I ’m look forward to it and seeing what he cooks up next considering how hooked I am onTetrachroma .
