Chroma Zero

Chroma Zero is a first-person puzzle game about exploring and fixing a strange world composed of three massive colored rings. This world acts as a puzzle box, and you need to rotate the rings to reach various places where a mysterious being awaits you. Chroma Zero expands on the "metroidbrainia" formula to offer a completely unique and challenging experience.

The premise of the game is to explore various states of its abstract environments through a time loop. This is similar to first-person staple Outer Wilds, except for the fact that here, your actions are what causes the world to change. The exploration and puzzles are indeed all about experimentations through direct alteration of the world. As the name Chroma Zero suggests, colors are central to the game and most of the mechanics revolve around them. Do note however that, unlike Outer Wilds, Chroma Zero has minimal narrative.

A multi-dimensional being unaffected by time is helping you throughout the game. You will encounter them each time you successfully complete a puzzle or reach a special place. Finding them is the main objective of Chroma Zero, they reward you with clues and knowledge as well as a few unusual power-ups. Since the game is fairly non-linear, you may not see immediately how these tips could be useful. Eventually though, every element has a part to play.

Chroma Zero involves a lot of first-person movement and basic platforming, yet it doesn’t require much dexterity since jumping rarely ever makes a difference. Instead, you’ll have to use gravity to your advantage. "How can I reach this place?" or "How can I do this without doing that?" are common questions you will regularly be asking yourself. These problems are solved by thoughtful observation and spatial visualization first and foremost.

This description was written by Andréas Andrieux.