This psychedelic neon platformer from one-man indie studio Demimonde breaks from convention by asking players to create many of the actual platforms themselves in order to traverse 50+ vertical levels.

Pressing a button in mid-air creates a static platform beneath you, or holding the button forms a moving platform that can be surfed across the screen for a limited time. Only a certain amount of platforms can be summoned during each jump (your stock is replenished when you land on solid ground), so a little bit of thought is needed to puzzle your way through each level.

There are tons of hazards in your way, from enemies with a wide range of behaviours to environmental traps like lasers, electrified ledges, platforms that need to be “charged” by moving in a certain direction, and much more. You’re able to summon various different types of platform to help you along, but Octahedron always seems to have a new trick up its sleeve to catch you out. Part of the fun is figuring out how to deal with the situations the game throws at you, and you always feel like the smartest person in the world when you get around the latest obstacle.

Throughout each level, players need to smash hanging lightbulbs to release flowers (because why not?) – there are thirty in each level, and a certain amount of flowers are needed to unlock later worlds. Each level also contains eight fiendishly-placed glowing triangles – collecting these isn’t strictly necessary, but they eventually unlock bonus levels which lead to some really useful upgrades for your character. For those wanting to push themselves further than simply reaching the end of the game, five medals are available in each level for reaching certain objectives – the game itself is challenging enough, but throwing these into the mix adds a whole extra layer of enjoyment and replayability.

The amount of creativity on display is incredible, and nothing falls short of the mark. The level and enemy design, visuals and electro soundtrack are all on point, and the gameplay itself is as addictive as it gets. If we’d come across Octahedron on its initial release in 2018, there’s no doubt that it would have appeared somewhere near the top end of our 2018 Games Of The Year list. Put simply, it’s an absolute must play for platform fans. We can’t fault it, so it’s going to have to get full marks!

OCTAHEDRON: TRANSFIXED EDITION / DEVELOPER: DEMIMONDE / PUBLISHER: SQUARE ENIX / PLATFORM: NINTENDO SWITCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW