Tandem: A Tale of Shadows is a platform and puzzle game developed by Monochrome Paris, published by Hatihnh Interactive and released on October 21 on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PS4.
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows puts us in control of a young girl named Emma and a teddy bear named Fenton, both looking for a young boy from a large magician family, who has mysteriously disappeared.
The strange duo thus leaves to investigate in the family mansion, in order to find the young boy.
The game therefore puts us in control of Emma and Fenton. Emma evolves on the ground and will have, via a lamp, the capacity to illuminate the zones, and can move the objects and interact with the objects in 3D. Fenton him, evolves on a 2D plan and has the capacity to interact with the decoration and especially, has the capacity to walk on the shadows.
By manipulating the environment and the various objects of the decor, and by playing and managing the light, Emma will have to succeed in freeing or creating paths to allow Fenton to move forward, so that he can recover the key fragment at the end. of the level and, at the same time, leave the level.
Fenton doesn't just wait for you to clear the way with Emma and move on. Indeed, Fenton will also be able to use 2D elements of the decor to help Emma. He can, for example, press switches to open doors, or to deactivate traps, and even create a diversion to attract enemies so that Emma can move forward without danger.
Whether it's Emma or Fenton, there are many elements that can block progress. This ranges from the simple door, through traps, as well as enemies watching the slightest move and attacking on sight, like giant spiders for Emma, attacking and imprisoning her if she has the misfortune to pass through. their field of vision, or even spikes of shadows or moths that will attack and devour Fenton if he gets too close to a light source.
Thus, during each level, you will have to go from one to another and play not only with the decor, but also, and above all, with the shadows.
The game is divided into several "worlds", each representing a part of the mansion. Each of these areas will require you to complete a dozen missions in order to recover a key fragment, to unlock the next area.
The game is quite short to complete, count about 6 hours to complete it. However, it manages to offer levels and above all, puzzles, very varied and different from each other, which does not cause a feeling of "déjà vu".
The style and atmosphere of the game play a huge part in providing this feeling of permanent discovery, by offering a universe and an atmosphere reminiscent of the works of Tim Burtom (such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Alice in Wonderland).
Conclusion
Tandem: A Tale Of Shadows is a really good little puzzle/platformer game. The puzzles and their progression curve are very well done and allow you to discover for yourself gameplay and puzzle elements that will be useful later.
The only downside could come from the lifespan - around 6 hours as I said - and the fact that there is no replayability. But replayability and lifespan do not necessarily make a good game!
In summary, we can say that Tandem: A Tale Of Shadows is a very decent game that will keep puzzle lovers busy!
