Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (ITSP) is a sublime if short experience. The game is so excellently designed that you will undoubtedly be left wanting more. In essence, it simplifies the “Metroidvania” sub-genre by eliminating the platforming elements and focusing on exploring a bizarre alien world.

The game’s story is simple; a dark malevolent force has entered and taken over your alien homeworld, so you have to hop into your UFO and figure out how to stop it. The story is told through amazing and stylized cinematics rather than the more obviously narrated style of a game like Bastion. I really respect the storytelling in ITSP and think it’s cool to tell a story solely through these visuals. It allows the player to imagine their own backstory. It also helps that the visuals in ITSP are absolutely gorgeous.

Your alien homeworld may be infected by some malevolent parasite, but it still looks amazing. The planet is brought to life with terrific animation and incredibly stylized visuals. Artist, Michel Gagne has crafted a game that looks brilliant both still and in motion. ITSP is as much a work of art as it is a game. Its creators aptly describe ITSP as a fusion of art, animation and gameplay. I couldn’t agree more and found myself absorbed in the graphical detail, colors and subtlety as much as the game itself. The game’s sound design is equally excellent and features archetypal sci-fi beeps and bloops alongside some excellent atmospheric effects and music.

The gameplay is simple but original. The controls will be instantly familiar to shooter fans. You move your UFO with the left stick and aim/shoot/use your gadgets with the right stick. ITSP takes these simple omni-directional shooting controls and introduces exploration and adventure into the genre. There are a variety and diversity of gadgets to discover throughout the adventure. Early on you will acquire an arm that will allow you to pick-up and move objects such as boulders that block your progress. The pace at which you discover new gadgets is perfect and keeps you playing and exploring the bizarre and twisted world of the game. It keeps things incredibly fresh and makes the game fly by.

ITSP is a short game, but that is not a negative, it just can’t be ignored at around 5 hours. There is nothing worse than grinding through repetitive levels and the same gameplay mechanics. Like World of Goo and other great indie games before it, ITSP is so well designed that your enjoyment will never wane throughout the campaign. The game expertly introduces new environments and gameplay mechanics throughout the adventure so that you are never bored and nothing is ever repeated. The most critical thing that I can say about the game is that the core fun of the game is discovery. After playing through the campaign, there is not much left to do and not much inherent fun replaying the same puzzles and levels over and over again.

As long as you don’t go into ITSP expecting hours upon hours of gameplay, you will not be disappointed with this charming game. It is not a time-consumer. It is much more like Braid or Limbo than Minecraft. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is an incredible fusion of visuals, sounds, and interactivity. The game is so well-conceived and designed that you will leave wanting more. The brevity of the game may sting, but that’s only because of our urge to spend more time in such a beautiful and bizarre alien world.