Unlike what other games would usually do, problem attic does not provide any directions or hints as of what to do. The interface of the game looks confusing and complicated, with vivid colours all over the place. Different patterns are also used to indicate things such as a wall, a jumpable platform that is hidden etc.
Players move around the screen using the arrow keys to navigate, mostly by jumping around. In the game, there are some QR-code like things that will appear in the ‘main menu’ (I call it a main menu because every time you complete a level (QR-code) you get sent back to this page). As players jump towards the QR-code they get sent into another dimension, where they have to reach a certain area; however, during these levels little crosses will come and interfere some of your actions, as depending on how a player utilises the cross, it can sometimes be useful.
When I first played the game I felt like all the things I would normally do does not apply to this game at all. I started the game by trying to reach the top, but after I decided there is no way up I tried jumping down, to my surprise there are much more explorable places below. I didn’t know what to do so I just moved around until a moving object caught my eyes, the QR-code. When I finally reached the QR-code it sent me to this other dimension with a stripped yellow-orange box somewhere. The colour is different, so perhaps I have to go there — and so I tried to reach there until I was stopped by a cross. My immediate reaction was to get away from it, perhaps because it was moving, or when I touched it the entire screen started shaking. However, as I progress through the game I realised that It is actually possible to exploit the fact that the cross kept following you — it can be used as a platform to go to higher places, which is required in some QR-code dimensions.
I feel like Problem Attic creates an entirely new experience as a game where there are no instructions or rules, but allows players to gradually experiment and understand what their goal is, yet also maintaining the surprises it holds on to on each different QR-code a player has to solve.
