iO is a puzzle game in which you are a wheel that can grow and shrink and have to navigate from one area to the other in the fastest that you can.
General Gameplay
iO is all about physics and how to get a wheel to get from point A to point B, the advantage is that you can grow or shrink the wheel to help you in the levels to get to your objectives.
Audio
There is some background music but to be honest it is mostly soft to compliment the level itself. Other than the background music there are some sound effects that go with the actions that are going on in the game level. As the game has no spoken dialog there is nothing that would be offensive to any gamers in your gaming family. The game does not support 5.1 surround sound but it does a decent job of playing the audio well through stereo speakers. Also you can use the headset to play the game. As always parents please use caution for your gaming members that are using a headset for extended gameplay.
Visuals
The visuals are more of an neon style of graphics. Mostly of geometric style of shapes and prime colors like red, yellow, blue. The game is designed with a simplistic look and feel to get the gamer engaged without too many distractions. As the game does not support a colorblind mode, it is not needed for iO as the graphics stand out. One thing to note is that during our playtesting that our family gamers with Autism really liked the symmetry of the design and lines of the game as it made it easier to play. Also to note that for some gamers you may have to adjust the color settings to better see the game on larger SMART televisions. This was a minor issue but still needed to be noted in the review.
Controls
iO controls are very simple, the left thumb sticks to move and the right to grow/shrink. The controls are made to be easy for anyone to pick up and play. During our play test, we did not see any of our gaming family members have any issues with the controls, however with some in game controller movements there were some points that in which the game felt that it was a step behind in the input. We checked our equipment and controller settings but it was like this for different consoles and controllers that were used. As the game does not need any special controllers to play, you should be ok with using a regular controller. Also, if you run into similar issues that we did during our play test, be sure to check your controller settings as well.
“iO has great level design for its unique puzzles, but it suffers from repetitive gameplay”
Delivery
With iO being a puzzle/platformer game it is hard to say that if it is a game that can be recommended to either a puzzle fan or a platformer fan but it all depends on how you like puzzle or platform games? If you are a fan of puzzle games then you may enjoy the game but if you are a more casual fan of puzzle games or even platformers then this may be a game that you want to pass up. One of the things that we encountered was that the controls are very on and off as well as the difficulty of the game as well. The game was either too easy to pass on levels or too hard, this made the experience a jaunting one as the game was not balanced at all. Our best advice is to download a demo first and try for yourself.
Family Friendly
Now this was an interesting conversation during the review. Is iO a family friendly game for all members and the answer is no. The game is trying to be both a puzzle and platformer, but it does a bad job at doing both. Where iO shines is that is a decent puzzle game for those that like puzzle games, but as a platformer its just fails. The controls must be tight for a platformer in order to work and in iO case the controls just felt sluggish, but if you look at iO controls for it being a puzzle game then it works fine. Also as the game has a major case of imbalance of difficulty. As we mentioned before that it is either too easy or hard, there is no middle for casual players to learn the game and grow, and that was a big issue during playtesting. A lot of our play testers after a while stopped playing the game because of the imbalance of the levels and controls. Now saying that the game is bad is not a right review but more of an acquired taste for puzzle fans in your gaming family. What we can recommend is that it is a good game for the puzzle fans in your gaming family but not so much for everyone else. Best thing that we can say is that best to download a demo first before making a purchase.
Closing
iO is a puzzler that tries to be a platformer at the same time but just misses the mark. The game is only for the die hard puzzle fans out there.
Be sure to listen to our podcast about our thought on iO.
