Discolored

In a world where it seems like everything needs to be part of a massive franchise, I love when a game can be little more than a simple, singular experience. There's no need to set-up a deep mythology, build a complicated world or tease mysteries that could be explored in sequels and spin-offs, because everything you need is in that one standalone adventure. That's how I feel about Discolored, a new first-person puzzle game that is just now hitting consoles after first debuting on PC and Apple Arcade back in 2019. This is a stylish adventure that sends the player on a quest to bring color back to a black and white world. Of course, it's more complicated than that, as you'll see when I review the refreshing sophomore effort from Godbey Games.

This is a game about a small black and white diner out in the middle of nowhere. It's a scene out of a movie from the 1950s, complete with the crackle of golden oldies playing over the radio. But hang on, because this isn't really a game about a sleepy old diner, because it's actually about a private investigator or scientist (or something) that uses an experimental visor to teleport into different realities. That diner isn't just out in the middle of nowhere, it's literally sitting at the edge of the world.

All you need to know is that the diner, phonebooth and surrounding area are filled with items to collect and puzzles to solve. What at first looks like nothing more than an empty restaurant quickly becomes a setting full of intrigue as we discover the upstairs bedroom, the mysteries in the attic and the bunker hidden deep underground. And what's with that tower out front? Why are we even here?

As it turns out, this diner on the edge of the world is the key to reintroducing a little color to the palette. A lot of the game revolves around finding blue, green and red gems that can be used to change the environment around you. What complicates this is the realization that you may want to pick and choose which colors are activated at any given time, all of which is thoroughly exploited by the trickier puzzles.

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In case you haven't noticed, Discolored is a first-person point and click adventure game. It plays by all the same rules, especially when it comes to combining items and searching for puzzle solutions. What I like is that the puzzles themselves are challenging, but never to the point of being obtuse or frustrating. The game doesn't throw too many items at you and the area you're exploring tends to be small, which are two things that really help to keep things focused.

Discolored also benefits from having a surreal and almost dreamlike narrative where just about anything can happen. An old dusty diner in the middle of nowhere may not sound like an interesting setting, but all that will change as you begin to peel back its many secret layers. There's so much intrigue here, which is even more impressive by the fact that there's no writing or dialog. I loved solving the puzzles, tinkering with the colors and, yes, even combining the items I picked up. And then, just like that, it all ends.

The one thing that you need to know about Discolored is that it's short. It took me around an hour to beat the game, which included more than a few times where I paced back and forth trying to get unstuck. It wouldn't surprise me if I could beat the game in 15 or 20 minutes on my second time through, and I would be curious to see what the speed-running record is. The point is, the game is a lot shorter than I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it offers a lot of puzzles and the ending is satisfying enough, but I have to admit that was a little disappointed when I saw the credits roll. It felt like there was more the developer could have done with not only this concept, but also the 1950s diner location. This is a game that left me wanting more.

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There are also some weird gameplay issues that left a bad taste in my mouth. For example, the game has this issue where inverting the camera control will also invert the point and click cursor. That means that every time I wanted to move the cursor up, I had to hold the analog stick down. This is not ideal. And that's true of the rest of the gameplay, which often feels floaty and just adequate enough to get the job done.

But while the gameplay could have used a little tightening up, the real issue I have with Discolored is the short length. That's only compounded by the $10 asking price, which may be a bit steep for a game you'll likely beat in under an hour. I love the style, the surreal narrative, the weird setting and all the stuff involved with bringing color back to a black and white world, but it's too short to confidently recommend at full price.