Typoman Reviews
As unique as Typoman is, seeing the scale of its missed opportunity unfold only saddens me evermore.
Typoman remains a refreshing combination of platform-adventure and word puzzler, with a particularly creative use of words and letters as physical tools. It's undoubtedly spoiled by frustratingly clunky platforming mechanics and a lack of clarity in some of its design, but those after something a little bit different and cerebral should give it a spin.
Typoman fashions a marvelous world full of wordy wonder, and those who feel it would be up their alley should definitely give the game a try based on that alone. However, the smudges that can come in the platforming, combined with the roller coaster difficulty, may very likely frustrate some when they find themselves caught in a death loop. The shorter length of the game is also a factor to consider, but the thought of a sequel with an expanded vocabulary and tweaked platforming makes us want to look up "enticing" in the thesaurus.
This isn't an awful game by any stretch, it's not nothing special, despite the feeling it should be.
Typoman's appeal boils down to whether or not you're willing to invest in shorter games that are content light, yet have genuinely interesting ideas that are beyond what's come before. By using words as an aesthetic and gameplay device, it writes its own reasons for why it is unique. My only wishes were that the platforming was tighter and that it had a few more levels. Typoman is over far too quickly for my liking, but this is high praise for what it did in its short time.
The beginning of Typoman showed promise, full of amusing and creative moments, something that anyone could enjoy. But unfortunately it wasn't able to hold that momentum for very long and quickly devolved into tedium and confusion, and lots of standing around doing nothing.
A great idea ruined by some very strange design decisions, that turn what should be a fun platformer puzzler into a gloomy and illogical word game.
Typoman Revised is a brainy and well-designed platformer, offering few hours of clever fun and some degree of replayability. The Switch version is by far the better one, more polished and with some new ingredients that will please the players. Unfortunately, the touch screen is not longer supported (but it was on the Wii U version).
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Typoman is another interesting little game on the Wii U. It has its moments of brilliance, and I have to commend the game for its hint system and checkpoints. While a bit on the difficult side, there was still some decent fun to be had. I only wish the platforming and controls were better implemented. This is one to at least look out for on the Wii U. Just keep in mind, there is some trial and error that has to be played through to get to the good bits.
Typoman is a challenging, if at times frustrating platformer with a great core concept. It relies too heavily on trial and error and the controls could be a bit tighter, but the puzzle design and stark, haunting aesthetic more than make up for any drawbacks.
In closing, Typoman does offer a fresh idea and experience to the puzzle-platforming genre. It succeeds in striking a dark, cold and lonely atmosphere that even made me feel uncomfortable at times thanks to its visuals and audio. Players who love puzzles will be rewarded with stimulating and fulfilling challenges but may struggle with the sections that demand high precision platforming and timing. With a bit more polish to the difficulty curve, cheap deaths and controls I would love to see Typoman return in another adventure.
It's not a perfect puzzle game and the difficulty sometimes hampers that platform experience, but combining both in "Typoman" is a recipe for success.
Typoman has some great original ideas. If you're a fan of platforming or puzzle games you'll want to check this one out. I just wish the game was a little longer.
Typoman is a brilliant proof of concept muddied by messy mechanics, unclear prompts and a lack of meaningful motivation. While the wordplay is superb, the focus is never on that strength as often as I wish it was.
Typoman dishes up pleasure as well as pain, which probably isn't surprising, given its scenario. It's a flawed game, but an interesting one nonetheless. If you get a kick out of word games and/or puzzle games, it's worth a look. Just steel yourself for frustration when it comes time to run.
Simply put, Typoman is a superb indie title that I had a brilliant time with. The main campaign may be over in around four hours, but there are a couple of mini games that test your creating skills to the max. The world, the story and gameplay it creates are stunning, with real deep moments of sadness quickly switching to those of hope.
Typoman offers an original concept that involves creating words from scattered letters to solve difficult puzzles — all set in a dark and dangerous world filled with evil.
If you're after a game that marries clever word puzzling and platforming, you may find an unexpected gem. Just be prepared to have your platforming patience tested far more than it ought to be.
Typoman deserves plenty of credit for creating a visually interesting world and one that requires players to figure out a way to proceed through it by literally spelling things out. This makes for a great initial impression due to the uniqueness of the game mechanic. However, the goodwill that it builds at the start does starts to suffer as you realise just how limited the spelling mechanic can be, and start to run into the rough edges around he platforming.
Typoman is a gorgeous game with a lot of half-baked ideas (and physics) and, frankly, deserves better. As it exists, the game is not worth recommending.