Many hundreds of years ago Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was forced to recant his theory that the Earth rotated around the sun, a blasphemous concept that went against the entire belief system of the day. Popular culture states that he muttered a phrase resembling 'And Yet It Moves' during his trial, a bold statement that contradicted the foundations of accepted truth at the time.

And Yet it Moves is a bold game, which takes the core idea of a 2D platformer and quite literally turns it on its head. At any point in the game the player can rotate the world 90 degrees, turning walls into floors, ceilings into chasms and certain death into a second chance. What could have been a one-off gimmick is expanded upon in unexpected and wonderful directions making AYIM a spellbinding indy diversion that is familiar, yet entirely unique.

Initially at least, the gameplay is pretty standard. You control a paper man, exploring a series of bizarre mazes, moving him left and right and jumping from time to time. The twist comes in your use of the cursor keys, which allow you to flip the world 90 or 180 degrees at any point. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome with ease by rotating the world at your will. However your paper avatar isn't immune to the powers of momentum so if you fall too far, even while rotating, he'll be torn to shreds on impact. Thankfully every level is littered with checkpoints, allowing you respite from all the dangerous leaping and more importantly, pointing  you towards the next one. These checkpoints are expertly placed, rewarding skill and driving the games brilliantly balanced playability. Rarely does any obstacle take more than a few attempts, which is just as well as the puzzles are far more varied than your standard platform game.

As you explore the diverse levels of AYIM you're frequently aided and obstructed by objects who's relationship with physics can be exploited. Falling boulders, springboards and swinging bridges can be manipulated in astonishingly acrobatic ways to traverse chasms and leap impossible heights. The animal kingdom plays a bizarre part in all this too, with ceiling dwelling bats, gate keeping lizards, ridable evil hamsters and the odd snake playing their part in a game that keeps you guessing. At times the amount of gameplay mechanics on show is incredibly impressive. Even more impressive is how finely tuned the experience is, in spite of the assortment of eccentric ideas it composes of. Creating a unique experience from a tried and tested genre is an impressive achievement.

Unique also, is the visual design of AYIM. As every object's texture has been taken from video and photographic sources, the levels feel like paper-cut collages. It's not going to serve everybody's tastes, but at the very least it sucks you deeper into the twisted world of AYIM and gives visual depth to a game routed in two dimensions. Mirroring this hand-made aesthetic is a unique and outstanding sound-scape. Much of the looping music has been made using human voice, popping & whistling like an eerie beat boxer. The same can be said for many of the games sound effects; such as when your character falls to his death to the sound of a voice-made 'Squish!'.

Considering how immersive this rich, backward world of AYIM feels it's a terrible shame it lacks any narrative drive. Levels come one after another with nothing to tie them together. Your character is never explored, neither is his world or its peculiar inhabitants and ultimately leaves AYIM feeling more like a puzzle game than a platformer. Though it takes nothing away from the games playability or pacing it does leave a hollow, and is a disappointing omission in an otherwise creative melting pot.

You'll be rotating worlds for a good three to four hours before you've unlock the games three chapters. After that, Competition Mode allows you to attempt speed runs on any individual level or across an entire chapter. These can be undertaken for the sake of Steam Achievements or to upload your own time to the games online ranking system which can also filter your score against players of similar skill or global positioning. Better still, the system takes note of when a player crosses each checkpoint, allowing you to download other players speed runs and try and beat their time section by section.

AYIM was originally created by a group of students from Vienna University of Technology in 2007, and it's clear to see that the developers have spend years refining the experience. The game is littered with 'Wow!' moments from start to finish, most of which are far too brilliant to spoil in this review. Simple to pick up and satisfying throughout, AYIM is an Indy gem you shouldn't miss. Available on Steam for little more than a tenner, this quirky, brilliant and unique game is very hard not to recommend.

Danny O'Dwyer

18 Comments

Tamz April 12, 2009 Votes: -2	This is one of those Braid esque mind-bending games that people who like, drink beer and get drunk or who smoke weed and get high would enjoy. Seriously though I remember playing this a while back and thought it was fantastic, I'm going to have to pick this up. report abuse vote down vote up
pill92 April 12, 2009 Votes: +1	Played the demo and loved it,will pick up if steam puts it on sale. report abuse vote down vote up
BrokenRules May 15, 2009 Votes: +0	And Yet It Moves Demo Competition: Win a Free Full Version! You probably already know that And Yet It Moves is a platformer and a puzzle game but did you also know that it’s a racing game? From this Friday, May 15th, we will host a competition in Between the Leaves, the third Level of the Demo. This race will end at Friday, May 22nd and the 5 fastest player will win a free full version of And Yet It Moves. You can take part in this game when you have the demo which you can download from our site: http://www.andyetitmoves.net/ For more information go to http://www.andyetitmoves.net/i...mpetitions Have fun competing and may the fastest win! Greets Broken Rules PS: Spread the word and tell all your friends as well report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 15, 2009 Votes: +0	It is a pity, that now I can not express - I hurry up on job. But I will be released - I will necessarily write that I think on this question. report abuse vote down vote up
colterNTL June 15, 2009 Votes: +0	It is a pity, that now I can not express - I hurry up on job. But I will be released - I will necessarily write that I think on this question. report abuse vote down vote up
colterNTL June 15, 2009 Votes: +0	It is a pity, that now I can not express - it is compelled to leave. But I will be released - I will necessarily write that I think on this question. report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 16, 2009 Votes: -1	� что бы мы делали без вашей великолепной идеи report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 16, 2009 Votes: +0	И что бы мы делали без вашей великолепной идеи report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 16, 2009 Votes: +0	Поздравляю, эта замечательная мысль придется как раз кстати report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 16, 2009 Votes: +0	It is a pity, that now I can not express - it is compelled to leave. But I will be released - I will necessarily write that I think on this question. report abuse vote down vote up
colterNTL June 16, 2009 Votes: -1	It is a pity, that now I can not express - I am late for a meeting. I will release - I will necessarily express the opinion on this question. report abuse vote down vote up
colterNTL June 16, 2009 Votes: -1	It is a pity, that now I can not express - I hurry up on job. But I will be released - I will necessarily write that I think on this question. report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 16, 2009 Votes: -1	� что бы мы делали без вашей великолепной идеи report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 16, 2009 Votes: -1	Поздравляю, эта замечательная мысль придется как раз кстати report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 18, 2009 Votes: -1	И что бы мы делали без вашей великолепной идеи report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 19, 2009 Votes: -1	Поздравляю, эта замечательная мысль придется как раз кстати report abuse vote down vote up
eldonilw June 19, 2009 Votes: -1	И что бы мы делали без вашей великолепной идеи report abuse vote down vote up
colterNTL June 20, 2009 Votes: -1	Поздравляю, эта замечательная мысль придется как раз кстати report abuse vote down vote up