Shiftlings
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Shiftlings
Patience is a virtue, and those who have it in spades will likely find the outstanding stage design worth enduring some of the other frustrations.
A marmite-puzzler that some will adore, and others will despise. Despite that, it's a fun puzzler.
While it doesn't do anything vastly new for the genre and treads the ground of repetition that puzzle games like to, Shiftlings is a solid puzzle based platformer for both solo and co-op players. Combine that with the detailed and colorful visual aesthetic, and the fairly unique main mechanic of swapping gas between the conjoined janitors, and you'll find a game that is interesting to play and fun to look at, at least until you find it getting tedious. Just don't let yourself get too carried away with the contrived plot point to get gas into their suits, or how the physics of an alien fart would actually work.
If you are a fan of puzzle games, then Shiftlings is definitely worthy of a purchase. At £13.99, you are getting over 50 levels to explore, and that will be more than worth your money if you aim to complete the game and all of its achievements. What Shiftlings brings to the Xbox One is a puzzler that is both fun and funny all the way through, with levels that can accommodate both casual and hardcore puzzle gamers. So take a chance on a couple of aliens, I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Shiftlings is a fun, quirky title that may surprise those who decide to give it a go. The game's structured like a mobile title, which makes it best suited for short bursts, but you will have fun here – especially if you play with a friend. It's never really ambitious enough to stand out in the crowded puzzle platformer genre, but what you'll find here is a quality pick-up and play experience that will test your wits.
All in all, Shiftlings is a passable entry into the platform puzzle genre. The gas shifting mechanic is certainly a novel one, but is relied on almost exclusively in puzzle solving where some more creativity would have been appreciated. If you're itching to bounce around and solve puzzles, you could do worse than Shiftlings – just don't expect a mind altering experience.
Shiftlings is a decent puzzler that relies too heavily on having a second player, and not getting tired of the simple mechanic.
Shiftlings is a smartly made puzzle game with an endearing story and art style, but unintuitive controls and killer load times make the Wii U version a real struggle to get into.
