Precision platforming
Celeste: the mountain as a movement problem
A climb provides a narrative direction for a platformer built around deliberately constructed movement challenges.
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THE READING LIST
Game reviews
Platformers and action adventures examined through movement, readable spaces and the cost of trying again. Each review explains its research basis and links to the official publisher material.
Exploration and combat
Hollow Knight: finding a route through a ruined kingdom
A hand-drawn underground kingdom brings exploration, encounters and uncertainty about the next passage into the same adventure.
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Action platforming
Ori and the Blind Forest: reading motion inside a painted world
A young protagonist’s journey is framed by elaborate environmental art, but the published genre remains action-platforming.
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Movement-led adventure
Ori and the Will of the Wisps: a new journey with an action commitment
A further Ori adventure combines an exotic world with large enemies and puzzles, making more than scenery part of its appeal.
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Run-based action
Dead Cells: learning a route that will not stay the same
An ever-changing castle and repeated attempts put adaptation alongside the immediate demands of action-platforming.
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Time and action
Katana ZERO: treating a fast encounter as a sequence
Instant-death combat and time manipulation give a neo-noir action-platformer a strong relationship between pace and consequence.
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Expressive platforming
GRIS: movement inside a changing emotional landscape
A character’s dress provides abilities as the journey through a faded world connects movement with a personal experience of sorrow.
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Companion adventure
Planet of Lana: a journey shaped by companionship
A girl and her companion face a world of nature and machines, making their bond part of the adventure’s organising idea.
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