What is a video game NPC, if not a scared creature that needs a bit of help? That’s exactly what the just announced PANIK cuts right to the core of, and I’ve been charmed by it quite quickly. In PANIK, there are Panikers, which are a type of scared creature that are just so unbelievably anxious they cannot move from where they stand. This is where you come in, a, uh, well they didn’t name the player character so I’ll just keep saying you.
You, both the real you and this video game you, have to find different ways to get the Panikers to move. As the trailer quite deftly demonstrates, that might be as simple as moving right up to them on its simply designed but pleasing to look at isometric, square layout, calming them down instantly.
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This can even have a chain effect, as long as they all stand roughly adjacent to each other. Once they’re calm enough to move themselves, you can guide them to specific chequered squares, which there might be more than one of. Fill them all up, and you’ve completed a level!
According to a press release, every Paniker you meet brings about a new mechanic, so you’ll have to come up with new solutions every level. There’s more than 100 of those, by the way, so it sounds like there’s lots to dig your teeth into. Honestly PANIK is really giving me the vibe of a puzzle game you find and get sucked into during an IT lesson because who needs to learn about Excel again.
PANIK doesn’t have a release date just yet, but you can wishlist it on Steam here. Or, alternatively, if you fancy just a taste of it, you can try out an earlier version of it on itch.io, which is quite good even if it’s short!
