Gibbon: Beyond the Trees (2022)

Gibbon's gameplay is primarily side-scrolling endless runner, reminiscent of Flappy Bird. Two buttons: one for movement by arms, the other for movement by legs. Momentum is generated by releasing and pressing in time with gaps in terrain. Extra boosts are gained by landing backflips over particularly large gaps. There is rarely a penalty for poor timing beyond the setback to momentum.

The intent of the game - a message of conservation - mixes walking simulator into the endless runner game design. The story is short and - at least in the first half of the game - told by way of slowly changing environments. Unfortunately, most changes occur at ground level, while successful timing keeps the player far up in the trees. While the camera window does scale with player ascension, ground level grows so distant as to fall into unnoticeable background.

This is a particularly good choice for parents looking for a short and easy game to play with young children. Total playtime caps around one hour.

Very quickly it becomes clear that this game is trying to get your attention on something real: threats to real gibbons from deforestation and poaching. That doesn't mean it's just a lecture pretending to be a game. The gameplay is tight and responsive, if shallow. The visuals are varied and well crafted. The music is well suited to the mood. It's not a bad game, it was clearly made with care and it understands it's a game.

It's just brief and not very complex. You play a gibbon, swinging through the trees with your mate and child. You control the game with only two buttons(mostly). Run and swing. It uses them to great effect. You hold run to charge forward, release at the right time to jump (timing is key). You hold swing to grab what is near and swing yourself forward. Using the two you move through the world with speed and grace. If you time your actions right it feels satisfying to race onwards. If you time them poorly, you will slow down and possibly fall to your death, drown, or be shot. If you die you pick up close to where you fell. Difficulty isn't the point. The experience is.

Here's where it makes the point. As you continue, the forest thins out from logging operations, fires begin to start, and your path becomes more difficult and dangerous where it was relaxing a moment ago. Eventually you are pushed into the human world and you swing through towns and markets while the humans mostly ignore you. But hunters come and you must move faster and more precisely to survive. Your mate is struck down and your baby is stolen anyway. You must hurry onward to recover it. This is a real thing. Hunters kill entire families of gibbons to steal babies to sell. That's what you are here to learn.

The game is short. The shortest game I've ever played . Lasting just over and hour but easily could be less. It doesn't overstay it's welcome. It's just getting tiresome when it concludes. If you'd like to just keep swinging through the trees, the game continues after the story into an endless mode with procedurally generated levels. You can play this to enjoy the mechanics until you're bored.

Not at all a bad game, but not going to occupy you much. Get it in sale and it's worth an hour of your time