{"id":974569,"date":"2026-01-05T06:52:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T06:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=453137"},"modified":"2026-01-05T06:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T06:52:18","slug":"leap-year-is-a-metroidbrainia-for-people-who-hate-metroidbrainias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/leap-year-is-a-metroidbrainia-for-people-who-hate-metroidbrainias\/","title":{"rendered":"Leap Year is a Metroidbrainia for people who hate Metroidbrainias"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I really wanted to like Animal Well<\/em><\/a>. To some degree, I went in knowing what to expect. This would be a game akin to Tunic<\/em><\/a> or Fez<\/em><\/a>, where the game as it initially seems is not the game it ultimately is. Like those titles, there would be a fairly straightforward \u201cgame\u201d to play, but that would be only the beginning of what I\u2019d be meant to take away from the experience. There would be some deeper layer beneath the surface that would only be accessible if I paid close enough attention. Whether you call them knowledge-based games<\/a> or Metroidbrainias<\/a> (even if they aren\u2019t always Metroidvanias!), the games in this newly popular genre require you to progress by expanding your understanding via observation, note-taking, and plain old taking your time.<\/p>\n

Problem is, I\u2019m just not that patient.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019re like me. I love puzzle games. I love the feeling of being frustrated<\/a> only to have that aha<\/em> moment light up my brain like a Christmas tree. To me, that feeling of everything clicking into place is one of the best things gaming has to offer.<\/p>\n

On paper, then, I should love games like Animal Well<\/em>, but again and again I find myself pushed away by their obtuseness. I don\u2019t relish the idea of poring over every screen, looking for subtle hints as to the underlying meaning behind things like random glyphs or the positioning of rabbit ears. I don\u2019t want to retrace my steps over and over until, finally, something new occurs to me. I\u2019m not the type of person to join a Discord and try to solve things in a community. But I do<\/em> want to experience the aha<\/em> moments that these games have to offer. The people who love these games really love <\/em>these games<\/a>, and I want to experience that, too. If only someone would make a game that was 10% as obtuse; maybe then I\u2019d stand a chance at experiencing some of what this genre has to offer.<\/p>\n

Enter Leap Year<\/em><\/a>, a \u201cclumsy platformer\u201d where if you jump, you die.<\/p>\n

Like Animal Well<\/em>, Tunic<\/em>, Fez<\/em>, and their ilk, Leap Year<\/em> initially presents itself as something quite simple: a platformer. You control a little guy who goes left to right or right to left, and the only button you have is a jump button. Cool<\/em>, you think. I am a person who has played a video game before. I can do this. I have jumped before, and I will jump again \u2014 in fact, I will jump right now<\/em>. So you do. And, as you do, your little guy leaps into the air, begins to descend, and, right before he touches the ground, turns from white to red and dies.<\/p>\n

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