Stretchmancer was first brought to life in 2023 as a submission to the prestigious Ludum Dare game jam #54, where it won top marks and placed 1st overall. No mean feat, considering LD has long been one of the biggest competitive jams out there. Now this first-person game of warping the 3D geometry of the rooms and walls around you is getting a shiny commercial release, coming soon to Steam. Here's the trailer:
You quickly get a sense of the comedic, cartoony vibe they're going for, which feels like it fits pretty well with the wacky stretch-and-squeeze gameplay. The central mechanic is the ability to grab onto surfaces around you and pull or push on them, changing the scale and proportions of objects and rooms. Grab a box and stretch it skyward to give yourself a platform, or stretch your room sideways to give yourself enough space to squeeze between prison cell bars. It's immediately intriguing as a fresh take on 3D puzzling.
The test-chamber-like environments and some of the puzzle props shown off so far bring to mind a more bright and colorful Portal, but we'll need to see more gameplay or a demo before we know if the challenges within can hold a candle to the first-person puzzle titan.
You can still play the game's prototype version from the game jam, available free on itch.io, if you're eager to get a preview of where the design started from. It features 5 levels and even some early shades of the silly character dialogue they've committed to in the new full version.
The Stretchmancer Steam page is up, where you can learn more info and wishlist the game.
Disclaimer: Thinky Games is part of the Carina Initiatives and may have professional relationships with individuals and businesses related to the subject of this article. Please see our Editorial Policy for details.
