Out There Somewhere

Miniboss games is probably not a studio many have heard of. A two-person team based out of Brazil, their biggest claim to fame was helping with art assets for the platform-based brawler, TowerFall Ascension. There’s so much more to Miniboss though, underneath that pixel art aesthetic is small devoted team that pushes a lot of unique ideas explored both inside and outside the world of 24-hour game jam events. Out There Somewhere reflects that mindset, in being a game that’s very short on playtime, but polished all the way throughout.

Out There Somewhere’s story is straight and to the point. Playing as space police officer Yuri, you’re seeking to capture the crime lord Grigori after he downs your ship in a shoot-out. Armed with only a gun that shoots teleportation bullets, Yuri has to make his way across an alien planet to find parts to repair his ship, and also bring Grigori to justice. There’s no radically branching plot, no deep and ridiculous character backstory, and no plethora of story options, and it works perfectly.

“Simplicity is perfection,” accurately describes how a lot of Out There Somewhere’s design choices work. You really only have the options to jump and shoot Yuri’s teleportation gun, with much of the game’s complexity coming from interactions. The teleportation gun can fire multiple shots at a time, but whenever a bullet lands against a wall it will instantly port Yuri to that location. There are plenty of other intractable objects that can effect bullets works, things like glass which can’t be walked through but can be shot through and beams of light that can change the direction of bullets.

The amount of time a playthrough in Out There Somewhere directly correlates to how quickly you adapt to its puzzles. An initial run of the game could take 30 minutes to an hour, with subsequent playthroughs taking 10-15 minutes. It sounds short, but the game is only around $1.50, and when combined with the quality of everything else it feels just about right.

Everything visually and auditory in the game is a throwback to older games from the early 90s and anime from even earlier. The few cutscenes in the game have that same sort of early-super robot/mecha show feel similar to Galak-Z. The pixel-work is charming in its own right, many of the planet’s non-hostile inhabitants happily bob up-and-down while waiting to be talked to. Yuri moves at a very consistent 60 fps framerate, which is needed for a sometimes physics-based puzzler. Everything from jumping to running looks smooth as butter, and really highlights how polished the game actually is. The soundtrack is great. It’s so great that the developers even have a link to it on their website. Much like the graphics, the chiptune styled OST harkens back to games of old, but also does its own thing. There’s a lot going on here that most 16-bit audio cards wouldn’t be able to produce. It sounds more like properly processed digital sound than a collection of beeps and boops.

Among the myriad of sales on digital retailers and the cheap trite that often pops up on Steam, it’s easy to lose or misconstrue games that legitimately bring positive experiences at an under-budget price. Out There Somewhere, a game I had not personally known had been released over 4 years ago, but one that ended up being some of the most fun I’ve had for under $2 (honestly, maybe even $10 or $15) in a long time.