SCHiM is an odd one, it appears to be a simple matter of jumping from shadow to shadow, while traversing and interacting with a busy, populated environment, and as simple as it seems, it's kind of unique...
So you may be asking; what the heck is a SCHiM? Well apparently a schim is the soul and spirit of an object, thing, or living being–and they look a bit like frogs. Every single thing in the world has one, and a schim should never be separated from their thing!
Unfortunately this exact thing happens to you (a schim), as you are detached from your human being. A schim can only survive briefly in light so must stick to the shadows, and this forms the basic gameplay rule–your task is to track down your human and reunite with him, by hopping from shadow to shadow.
The controls are simple, the gameplay can be complex and demanding. You make your schim jump with 'A', and can do a double jump and charge-up a jump on certain "springy" objects.
You may have to progress by launching your schim somehow, or operate traffic lights to get traffic moving (and use the vehicles’ shadows) or power up a barrier to extend a shadow, or a conveyor belt, open doors or simply use a person's shadow. You can hold the R trigger to show your destination and if the way forward isn't clear then pressing either shoulder button to rotate the camera will usually reveal how to progress–or maybe the way to a secret area.
Sadly, like so many games with a puzzle/platform element, SCHiM gets a bit too clever for its own good - it's a bit of a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Before long a pleasant, gentle game becomes a stiff test of brain power and reactions, with shadows moving quickly, appearing and disappearing (due to faulty light bulbs or moving vehicles or machinery). Having said that, although it can frustrate, the game never gets too hard, the difficulty increases gradually, and the game even has a tougher, "one hop" mode, but it does feel repetitive and never really escapes from this major flaw.
SCHiM is interesting and addictive at first, but loses its appeal sooner than I expected. Coming from talented indie developers Ewoud van der Werf & Nils Slijkerman, with its pleasing but minimalistic graphics I expected it to be super low-priced, but at £20.99 it's hard to recommend, but definitely worth picking up for a "quick-dip" game if you see it on sale.
Thanks to Extra Nice and Pirate PR for the review code.