Indecision.

When you go to the Steam page for the new game Indecision, you learn three crucial pieces of information. We discover that "it's short and vague," that "you won't feel like you achieved anything" and, most importantly, that "you just push left, right and sometimes jump." Instead of posting the usual review where we go over every element bit by bit, I want to mix things up by taking a closer look at these bullet points and show you why I've decided that Indecision will be the year's most memorable platformer.

It's Short and Vague:

Some games like to overpromise and pretend that they are more ambitious than they actually are, but not Indecision. It promises right up front that it will be short and it will be vague. And guess what? They're right! The whole thing took me just over twenty minutes to beat and the puzzles are left purposely ambiguous.

At its core, this is an art exhibit masquerading as a platformer that is really just a puzzle game. We're tossed into a series of unrelated stages that all look and act a little different. For example, one stage has you trying to escape your shadow, while the very next stage will be all about using annoying pop-up boxes to escape a fire. You'll take control of a boulder, press a button to summon poop and even send the silhouette dude from Limbo into the heavens. It's as random as it is vague, which is one of the main reasons why I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

You Just Push Left, Right and Sometimes Jump:

When the developer went to describe the gameplay, they looked no further than the game's lone negative review. It's true, the gameplay is little more than walking left, walking right and occasionally jumping. This describes about 90% of the platformers released between 1985 and 1994. But even compared to something like Aero the Acro-Bat or Zool, Indecision is the textbook definition of basic.

What this description fails to mention is that most of the gameplay revolves around the diverse stage designs. It isn't always as easy as walking from left to right and jumping over bottomless pits, because each level has its own puzzle to solve. The best stages are the ones that subvert your expectations. For example, there's a great level towards the end where the platforms you walk on don't match up with the platforms you can see, forcing you to realign the stage in your mind. I was impressed with both the variety and the creativity on display here.

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You Won't Feel Like You Achieved Anything:

Now here's where I begin to disagree with the description. Perhaps there will be people that find the twenty minute exercise to be completely pointless, but I came out the other side feeling like I had gone on a weird and wonderful journey. For a game that is little more than a series of random moments, I have a hunch a lot of the experience is going to stick with me. There are a lot of ideas found in this game that I would like injected into a larger, more fleshed-out platformer. I hope other developers are taking notes when playing Indecision.

It's not just the clever stages that make this game so satisfying, but also its sense of humor. Not every level is a brain-teaser; some are just mocking video game cliches. There's a nice balance here that ranges from the simple to the silly to the just plain bizarre. I can't imagine anybody feeling like they didn't achieve anything when the game boots them back to the desktop.

It won't be for everybody, but Indecision is a micro masterpiece. The weird stages, cool art design and random sense of humor comes together to create an endlessly clever platformer you absolutely need to play. Well, maybe not endlessly, but it's a good twenty minutes of clever. With a mere three dollar asking price, you should be decisive about picking up Indecision.