The Apple Arcade List: Possesions
Possessions is a game available on Apple Arcade. It’s a 3-D puzzle game that’s all about having your eyes deceive you. Will the game deceive you as well?
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Gameplay
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The gameplay is simple and fun. You see a room, and in the room there are a lot of things that need fixing. You see a lot of objects free floating around the room and others that seem broken. What you have to do is move the camera around to manipulate how the image is seen. For example: if something is floating in the air, you position the camera to make it look like it’s where it belongs. Below are two screenshots to help me explain. In the first image, you see the TV floating in the middle of the room. In the second image, the TV looks to be in the right place. The TV was not moved by the player, rather, the camera is pivoted to make it appear the TV is in its proper perspective.
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Sometimes items need some work before they could be put in place. In one level, you are piecing a bike together, but the wheel is in two pieces and scattered throughout the room. You have to first move the camera to make it look like the wheel is fixed before putting it back on the bike. It opens up some levels to have a little more challenge, but for the most part, the levels are on the easier side.
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Story
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There is a story here, but it’s told without any voiceovers or text. The way I interpreted the story may differ from how you do, depending on how you take their actions. My takeaway from it: it’s the ups and downs of a relationship and a family. It seemed to be on the sadder side, so just be ready for that.
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From what I got from the story, I did enjoy it, but it left me wanting some more; either more context or just more moments to try to interpret. You are building the story by seeing how the rooms are changing over time, and how the family is acting, and in some rooms, you get a small clip before the puzzle starts with some story. Not every level has clips with actions before them, so make sure to pay attention when you get one.
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Difficulty
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The game is not very challenging. There were only a couple of times when I was really searching for the last object to set into place, but it didn’t take too long to see. There is also no hint system in place. In the beginning, having no way to get hints made me nervous, but there was never any time where I was really staring at it for long without eventually seeing it, so for me, a hint system was not necessary.
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Let’s Get Weird
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The game gets a little weird when you pay attention to some small details. It helps builds the story, but I can’t help seeing something and just thinking “well that’s weird”. The below picture shows two things that I noticed: the picture on the wall has someone crossed out and there is a bong on the floor. It’s a game that touches on hard times, but I still wasn’t ready to see a bong in one of the rooms.
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Augmented Reality
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There is an Augmented Reality (AR) mode added to this too. You play through the same puzzles but in AR. It’s not an easy mode to use. You must have a well-lit area and a decent amount of space. Instead of moving the camera around, you are physically moving around the room in AR. The early puzzles, it’s not too tricky, but it gets too hard and not practical further into the game. A fun addition, but something that I couldn’t justify spending my time on.
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Verdict
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Possessions is a short puzzle game that will not take you long to run through but it is worth your time. A short story, that leaves you wanting more, but is still great to see play out. It’s hurt by being a little too easy and an AR mode that is just not worth it. Despite that, I still recommend this game.
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Final Score 6/10
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The list
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- What the Golf?
- Way of the Turtle
- The Pinball Wizard
- Lego Star Wars Battles
- Jetpack Joyride 2
- A Fold Apart
- Jetpack Joyride +
- Super Impossible Road
- Towago: Among Shadows
- Tint
- Possesions
- Survival Z
- Where Cards Fall
- Word Laces
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