SCHiM – pronounced like a guttural “shim” – lives up to its marketing: it is indeed a charming and compact indie game about a mischievous shadow spirit on a quest to reunite with its human. It’s simple and addictive, though the uneven challenge, often linear paths, and perfunctory collectibles can make the gameplay loop feel rather one-note by the end.
A boy and his blob (shadow)
That said, SCHiM gets off to a great start, providing a basic tutorial while showcasing the striking visuals, immersive ambience, a moody soundtrack, and competent storytelling using voiceless but expressive animations. The player briefly controls both a young boy and his shadow as he grows from a child – seemingly aware of his playful companion – into a teenage student unsure of his interests and concerned about his peers’ opinions, and finally into a young man stuck in a desk job – now seemingly unaware or uninterested in his companion. While despondently shuffling home after being laid off, the young man trips, his shadow is torn free, and he flees in shame from an advancing crowd without realising what he’s lost.
Chasing shadows
Four brief stages in, that’s the densest storytelling you’ll witness for some time, as the gameplay settles into a rhythm that sees you moving through increasingly complex dioramas, hopping between shadows and interacting with objects, on the hunt for the next person, animal, or vehicle that’ll get you closer to the young man. The mechanics are also straightforward. You can swing the camera around 90° at a time to spot shadows, then leap once and hop a second time to reach more shade – but if you miss, you’re back to the last, somewhat poorly-defined checkpoint. You can also interact with most objects through their shadow, rattling them about, distracting pedestrians and animals, you can fling yourself off swinging or springy objects, and activate machinery like traffic lights, booms, and forklifts.
It feels appropriately low risk given the tone of the game, with frequent checkpoints and a button to highlight your objective. However, it’s also unexpectedly linear and increasingly repetitive as a result. You’re either on the main path or you’re briefly deviating to find a collectible and, despite the size of some levels, it’s not particularly sandbox-ish. There are plenty of invisible walls and nonsensically lit areas devoid of shadow. Instead, SCHiM ups the complexity by introducing moving objects, lights and booms to manipulate the flow of traffic and pedestrians, and timing-based sequences with moving animals, vehicle headlights, and lightning flashes. The escalation in complexity is uneven though, so sometimes you’re just hopping forward mindlessly, and other times you’re stuck waiting on traffic cycles that could infrequently bug out and force me to restart the stage.
All of which sounds more negative than I want it to. The streamlined design is often essential to maintaining the narrative pacing, while small diversions for collectibles are often associated with cute side stories you can watch play out. Even if a sweeping camera pan over a stage laid out yet another linear path, I was curious to find out more about what the young man was up to in the absence of his schim. Why did he pack up his household and where would he stay? Who were the friends he was meeting up with? Would he find love again? And would he ever rekindle his youthful sense of wonder and joy in the simplest of activities? The brisk pacing and short stages meant I never had to wait long to find out more – but with over 50 stages of varying length in total, it begins to feel like contrivance after contrivance as you get close, only to watch him walk off again.
Throwing shade
So, despite some misgivings about SCHiM’s linearity and length, it does what it sets out to do and does it well as a budget-priced indie. It tells a heart-warming tale about a man who loses his spirit and finds it again; it features beautiful, almost monochromatic visuals and a soothing soundtrack; and the gameplay loop is breezy but engaging enough to keep you pushing forward. So long as you’re in the mood for a casual puzzle – the kind perfect for when you’re lounging on the couch or in bed – SCHiM is easy enough to recommend.
SCHiM was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC, Xbox One/Series S|X, and PS4/5.
SCHiM (Nintendo Switch) Review
SCHiM (Nintendo Switch) ReviewThe Good
- A heartwarming narrative and charming side-stories that play out in the environment
- Simple but satisfying puzzle-platforming that slowly evolves in complexity
- Dense environments, striking visuals, and moody audio that facilitate gameplay
The Bad
- The gameplay feels a little one-note by the end
- Pedestrian and traffic cycles could bug out