Summertime Madness [Xbox]
Developed by DP Games, Summertime Madness is a puzzle game that starts off in Prague, in the year 1945. A mysterious figure visits our character, an artist, to give him the option of escaping from the horrors of war via his paintings - under one rule: he must figure out how to return before the stroke of midnight, lest he be trapped in his paintings forever.
When you begin, you are given the option of playing through the game in one of three modes: Explorer, a relaxed mode with no time-limit; Classic, which limits you to six hours; and Advanced, which gives you just three hours to escape. I braved the Advanced mode on my first run, successfully completing it in the allotted time without having to use the in-game hint system. Some of the puzzles were pretty challenging, with the first puzzle on the boat being relatively easy to work out with a bit of going back and forward, whereas the city puzzle was a complete mind-bender and had me struggle with the alternating day/night aspect and the switches that need to be found and flipped.
With the whole premise of the game being that you’ve been transported into artwork, it has a very painterly, yet surreal vibe. Scenes change from the nature-filled main area, with a giant hand holding a pocket watch and a lighthouse that erupts from the earth, as well as an Escher-esque building that pops up for you to explore. Other areas of the game take place in darkened voids with gigantic sculptures, and a Neo-Prague city that is as frustrating as it is wondrous. The soundtrack continues the mystical surrealness, blending throughout the levels and with fun little gameplay elements included such as playing a piano to progress within a puzzle, as well as hunting down musical instruments.
It can be very easy to feel lost, particularly under the stress of the timer, as progressing onto new areas can only be done once certain things have been completed. As mentioned, the first segment introduces you to the concept, and whilst it doesn’t explain too much, a bit of trial and error will eventually lead you in the right direction. Moving onto new areas can leave you feeling a bit out of your depth, retracing your steps and desperately rushing around in the hope that you’ll find something to guide you on your way (especially if you’re avoiding using hints like I was).
There are a decent amount of hidden collectibles in the form of seven musical instruments dotted around the levels, five instances of ‘Emilia’ being graffitied onto surfaces (which turned out to be a slight joke at the Dev wishing to meet Emilia Clarke), and four paintings in less-than-obvious places for you to find. There are also a few little secret achievements that you can trigger by doing various things, and all of this adds a layer of mystery, encouraging you to really explore each of the surreal locations and keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Each of these collectibles is saved upon gathering, and you can go back via the Chapter Select to grab anything you’ve missed, which is a godsend for allowing you to ignore them when you’re time bound.
Frustratingly, there’s an achievement for completing the game in under an hour, which is not specified as one of the game modes available so is an optional extra, however I have managed to run through the game in under an hour twice now trying to get this to pop to no avail - so this appears to be bugged, at least on Xbox, so hopefully it will be resolved soon. Available for £12.49 on the Xbox Store, Summertime Madness is a game best suited to those looking for a challenging puzzle experience that doesn’t hold your hand.
In the end, we decided to give Summertime Madness the Collecting Asylum rating of 7.5/10.
Are you interested in Summertime Madness? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Sometimes You for the Summertime Madness Xbox review code!
