Stumbling upon Nonolith as I walked the rows of indies in PAX Rising last weekend, I was immediately drawn to it. The surreal, textured pixel art style of the environment and the unassuming little green guy piqued my curiosity as I stared at someone else’s playthrough on one of the screens.
Nonolith is a “metroidbrainia”, sharing the genre with the likes of Animal Well, Tunic, and other highly acclaimed cerebral games. The world is yours to manipulate with the ability to copy and paste objects inside a 3×3 grid above your head. As you progress further, you’ll learn patterns you can create from blocks that interact with the world in interesting ways.
I found myself scratching my head in confusion the moment I sat down, with little direction on where to go or what to do. With the basics built into the level design itself, I made a few staircases, and I was on my way. I won’t lie, I didn’t get much farther than that during my brief time with the demo. I figured out a few mini puzzles and learned how to travel to one of the nine different worlds inside the Nonolith, but I could admit when I was defeated and stepped back to give one of the other PAX-goers a turn.
While speaking with Cameron, the lead developer and programmer, about his game, we witnessed a young man stumble into one of the game’s secret abilities. Cameron paused, smiled and said, “That was a really cool move! I don’t think they fully know what they’re doing, but like, cool stuff”. Continuing our impromptu interview, we discussed the stage of development and the different ways people could support. “I think I’m pretty happy with the direction of the mechanics and the way people are approaching it. We’re just looking at getting in post-game content now”.
On the desk, among business cards and monitors, was a pile of badges made for the game. Sitting beside these badges was a cardboard placard that told of a secret that could be found inside the PAX demo. Solving this riddle would reward you with an exclusive badge (bragging rights implied). After asking how many people had proven themselves worthy of one of these pins, I was floored to hear that a whopping total of 8 had been given out over the entire weekend. While I’m uncertain of exact numbers, PAX Aus this year had 85,000 visitors. That’s a very exclusive club to be in, and it just goes to show you how mechanically deep and challenging Nonolith is set out to be.
I asked how people could support the game while they wait for the demo to come out in February. “I find it hard to signal boost it out; it’s so different that it doesn’t do as well on social media. I find that here in person, we get a really positive reaction, but it’s hard to break out of that sphere that social media enforces on you. So it’s always helpful to get reposts in any way you can, and wishlists are always amazing!”
For those who didn’t attend PAX or may have missed Nonolith while they were there, or simply the sickos who want to come back for more. Monolith’s demo is slated to come out in February, with a full release sometime next year as well. The game is only planned for Steam right now, but console releases aren’t off the table!
If you are a fiend for deep mechanical puzzle games, be sure to wishlist Nonolith on Steam. Also, be sure to follow Cameron on their socials for updates on Nonolith!
