Tandem: A Tale of Shadows

Throughout my playthrough I was surprised by the manner in which I had to position Emma, or move objects around, precisely to cast just the right shadow for Fenton. In keeping with the theme of a story based around a missing magician, the compact, finely-detailed stages unfold like a series of sleight-of-hand tricks that ably draw your focus in one direction so that you are particularly struck when you stumble on a solution that was more or less hiding in plain sight. If the measure of a good puzzle game is how many “oh wow, this is crazy” moments are packed in it, then Tandem is up there with the best of them. I’d recommend “Tandem: A Tale of Shadows” to anyone who enjoys having their perceptions toyed with.

The weak attempt at narration or storytelling on the basis of its animation may be off-putting, but toss its lacking narration (and hard-to-hear audio) to the side and what you're left with is a puzzle game with a charming-enough gimmick that's just as much about substance as it is style.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows brings several interesting ideas to the realm of logic puzzles, wrapped in a fairly appealing package. However, it suffers from minor yet ultimately critical flaws that turn what should be a relaxing experience into a nightmare. The simplistic presentation and weak attempt at storytelling mentally categorize the game as one for a younger audience, but the content itself doesn’t warrant that label. Neither the dual perspective nor the innovative mechanics can fully compensate for the inconsistent difficulty or the control issues. Still, it’s not an outright bad game—it will keep you entertained for about five hours.

Tandem is a thoroughly lovely game, then, and one that fans of creative puzzle adventures should absolutely have on their “to-play” list.

While Tandem: A Tale of Shadows does feel like it runs out of a bit of steam by the end, overall this is still a fairly entertaining little puzzle adventure. There are plenty of places for improvement, and both the story and the gameplay really could have used a bit more refinement if this was to become something truly special. But even if it is a little rough around the edges, the biggest impression the game is going to leave behind is just how clever its puzzles are. It is the core gameplay that saves the game, even if the stuff around it might not be all that impressive. Even when the game starts to drag and become a bit more predictable, the puzzle platforming is fun enough to warrant seeing everything through until the end.

The dual mechanics produce satisfying and unique gameplay in some spaces. Of lesser narrative brilliance.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows is good where it counts: the gameplay. It may not be a difficult game, but the puzzles are a fine challenge for the average player, while the relatively short playtime means that the title doesn't feel like a chore. Don't expect too much from the rest of the package, whether that's aesthetics, narrative, or a reason to replay it once the credits roll. Overall, it's good enough to check out if you're itching for a puzzle-platformer.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows is a cute, clever puzzle game with a distinct style and engaging challenges, which could benefit from a more fully realised narrative.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows offers up some nice puzzle-platformer gameplay that should please any fan of the genre. It makes good use of its two characters different perspectives to offer up some challenging and thoughtful puzzles and does so while you traverse through some really cool looking environments. The story doesn’t have much to say though and you’ll likely finish it in a short amount of time. If you’re in the mood for a new puzzle-platformer that has you working with light and shadows this one is worth your time.

With a unique take on perspective, light and darkness, Tandem: A Tale of Shadows is a fun puzzler to be enjoyed by gamers of all ages.