Timelie from Urnique Studio and Zordix is a stealth puzzle game with time manipulation mechanics. Learn more in our Timelie review!
Timelie from Urnique Studio and Zordix is a stealth puzzle game with time manipulation mechanics. You’ll play as a young girl and her cat, as you control both of them at the same time, timing their movement as you learn from your mistakes along the way so that you can distract your opponents, staying out of their line of sight. Oh, and you’ll also get to control time so that you can rewind time and undo your mistakes, or take a glimpse into the future to gain valuable information that can help to change your past.
Timelie started as a student project six years ago, with an initial focus on a stealth game that shared some elements with the Metal Gear Solid series. The initial focus was to create the game for a mobile release, but this changed along the way, with the group changing their plan to develop a game that went beyond the initial mobile experience. Using the experience learned after graduating and working on other projects, the game was reworked for a PC release, which has now been followed up with a Nintendo Switch release.
Thanks to the console’s nature, you can play this one by using the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con or the touchscreen when playing in Tabletop of Portable Mode. You’ll move a cursor around the screen with the left analog stick, and you can use the right one to move the camera around and to zoom in and out as needed. The cursor can be used to select where a character will move. To confirm this, press the A button, and the character will take the designated path. You can interact with objects by pressing the Y button.
Your powers can be used by pressing the ZL button to select a section and the ZR button to bend time. This will allow you to, for example, bring back a broken path, as long as you have a charge for it. There’s also the option of moving time backward by pressing the L button or moving time forward by pressing the R button. Once you’ve used your time powers, you can execute your actions by pressing the X button. All of this can also be done by using the console’s touchscreen to control everything if you’re playing Timelie in Portable or Tabletop Mode or a Nintendo Switch Lite.
Once you’re joined by your feline companion, Timelie will have you play through a handful of levels as the CPU takes control of the cat so that you can get used to what it can do and how it can help you distract enemies while you get to a safe spot, activate a switch to open up or close, or collect a charge for your time bend power. After this, you’ll be able to switch between characters with the ZR button so that you can choreograph their movements as needed so that you can safely reach the exit door.
Timelie will introduce new elements at a steady pace to keep the whole experience feeling fresh. These include time anomalies that consume a level at a steady pace, thus leaving little room for error since every step you take and every move you make will be crucial for your survival. You will also find special purple energy spheres that will automatically rewind time to the start of the level while also fixing something in the level that used to be broken.
Timelie includes an in-game achievements system to keep count of your progress. There are achievements that will unlock as you complete each puzzle tied to a relic challenge. There are also achievements for collecting each memento, another one for completing the game, one for viewing the secret ending, and the last one will unlock after you’ve managed to get every single other achievement the game has to offer. The levels that include a relic challenge will show the glowing relic right next to the exit door. Thanks to this, you’ll be able to see what the extra challenge is for that stage since the relic will deactivate as soon as you do something “wrong” – use the cat’s meow, fix a missing spot on the floor, or fix a bridge, defeat an enemy or take to long to finish a level.
Timelie is an interesting stealth puzzle game with time manipulation mechanics with a minimalist art style, and fun gameplay mechanics. Depending on your experience with stealth games – and how quickly you adapt to the time bending and manipulation gameplay mechanics – you should be able to complete Timelie in 4-5 hours or so. If you want to 100% the game and replay the levels for which you didn’t collect a relic, you can probably add an extra 30-40 minutes on top of that as you find the alternate solution for each of those puzzles. Timelie is out in Nintendo Switch with a $19.99 price, and it’s one you should definitely check out on the console.
Disclaimer
This Timelie review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Urnique Studio.
