PlayStation 4 User Reviews

Snappy Game Reviews - Acid Trip I truly miss the early days of the golden age of indie games, I have fond memories of playing those timeless classics that despite seeming extremely simple were brimming with new ideas sometimes even mixing genres to make something truly special. Expand, a game by Chris Johnson & Chris Larkin, made me feel like I had just gone back to those times. At first, it seemed like this incredibly basic mostly monochromatic maze game where you have to navigate to make it to the end, but Expand‘s simple concept made for quite the experience. As such there’s very little text in Expand and you learn everything you need to know through experience. You can move along white surfaces, black surfaces act as walls that can expand or contract that, for the most part, are harmless unless you get crushed by them and red objects mean instant death and should be avoided at all costs. With this knowledge that gets passed to the player during the introduction, you’re free to explore any of the initial four sections of this black and white world. This sense of freedom is rather welcoming in a game like this though it might make for some difficulty spikes depending on the order that you go through the game. Each of the previously mentioned sections has a given number of challenges for you to overcome that revolve around the same basic idea of navigating safely to the end of the stage. Once you get all four segments a fifth and final area will be unlocked that will put all you’ve learned to the test. For a game only comprised of simple shapes and few colours Expand never got boring to look at nor to play, this is because of how inventive each maze is. Through the use of shifting perspectives and clever transitions, the game can keep your attention at all times and makes you want to keep playing just to see what comes next. This is heightened by the beautiful and eerie soundtrack composed by Chris Larkin. It somehow manages to keep you relaxed even in the most frustrating bits through its soothing tunes. This trippy journey should take little more than 2 hours to come to a close but despite being this short I think it strikes the perfect length, I felt completely entranced during my time with the game and by the time I got through the final section and started going through the credits sequence I felt wholeheartedly satisfied. Expand is also a nice little treat for trophy hunters, despite not featuring a platinum trophy, as you can get every single trophy by simply getting through to the end. Expand is one of those games that I feel like will sadly fall under the radar for a lot of people due to its simplicity but trust me when I say that this is something that you must experience for yourself to truly understand how ingenious it is as a whole. Great original presentation with some fantastic music pieces and clever, if a little simple, puzzles for a small price makes it an easy recommendation.

Do you want to dissociate yourself from everything, disconnect and relax? Put on the headsets and let yourself be carried away by the harmonic and quiet music of Expand while you solve the intricacies and try to escape from an almost infinite labyrinth. Expand is a game that is enjoyed from minute 1 not only for its music, but also for its effects, its simplicity and its brilliance, which sometimes does not need to make a very complete and complex game to be good, sometimes , as it is in this case, the simplest thing is what most attracts attention. With Expand if you are good at this type of games you have entertainment for two and a half hours approximately

This is mostly a meditative experience with simple gameplay and great music. It's around 2 1/2 hours long. I enjoyed it.