Isles of Sea and Sky

Isles of Sea and Sky is an open-world block-pushing adventure with more than a tinge of metroidvania, in which you explore an archipelago with several big and small islands. You push different kinds of blocks on different types of surfaces, collect various gems, keys and stars, and unlock new powers along the way. The large variety of puzzle types, immersive mechanics, good quality graphics and sounds, and, most importantly, the very well designed puzzles make this one of the best games of 2024, hence its nomination for three Thinky Awards.

All the puzzles are immersive. There are six different biomes, each with its own particular mechanics, sometimes combined for even harder puzzles. For example, on the volcano island you can push a metal crate on lava to make a platform, but a wooden one would burn, while on the water island you can push a wooden crate into water to make a platform, while a metal one would sink. Earth elementals roll like a boulder, while air elementals spin like a tornado. On the water island you eventually gain the ability to swim, while on the fire island you gain the ability to briefly walk on fire.

There’s a great variety of puzzles, from easy to very hard, and they rarely involve basic block pushing, but finding the right sequence or combination of puzzle elements. Use the snowball to make this patch of ice non-slippery, so you can walk up to the water elemental and get it off the ice, then turn the water elemental into a fire elemental to shoot the other snowballs blocking the way.

Since the puzzles are embedded in the world, quite a lot of them aren't about pushing blocks, but exploring, finding secret walls or hidden items, discovering and playing tunes, observing patterns, thinking outside the box. Some puzzles involve multiple screens, others even involve exploring an entire island.

Each room can have several items to collect, and you don’t have to collect all of them at once. And sometimes part of the room can be done with the abilities you have now, but part of it requires a new ability. Like in a good metroidvania, you’ll have to keep exploring and coming back to previous rooms to check if new puzzles have become possible.

There's also a story to discover, with multiple cutscenes shown as a reward as you make progress. Initially a castaway, Isles of Sea and Sky's main character goes on to gain the favor of four elemental gods. His story shares many motifs with various creation myths around the world. As a nod to Greek mythology, naming your savefile after primordial deity Ouranos will unlock a small, special bonus.

This description was written by Sergiu Dumitriu.