Venineth rolls onto Steam

Written by Jack Allin — April 16, 2020 at 10:24

Most games want players to have a ball, but few offer players the chance to actually be a ball. But that's exactly what you'll get to experience in the newly released sci-fi platforming adventure from Poland called Venineth.

While story details are purposely vague, the game casts players in the role of a small sphere that is "set in motion by means of electromagnetic interaction." Though it is "aware of its existence," it "does not know its origin or its purpose but subconsciously rolls forward, getting closer and discovering its destiny over time." Its task is simple, though not easy, as it attempts to unravel the "mysteries of ancient alien technology ... via exploration, platforming, and puzzle-solving in dangerous, distant worlds."

Presented in free-roaming third-person (third-ball?) 3D, Venineth takes players through a variety of unique sci-fi environments. Your actions are limited to rolling and jumping, but along the way you'll encounter "technologies such as holographic elevators and platforms, force fields, buttons that open gates and turn off force fields, [and] equalizers that can move or rotate movable platforms," among others. Adding further complexity, the most notable environmental element is a series of gates that "apply and remove shells with different physical properties," such as the ability to "move on hot liquids, destroy crystalline obstacles, and live in places with high temperatures," or "attract green magnetic surfaces and rotate magnetic platforms and lasers." A degree of dexterity will be needed to overcome certain obstacles, though the distribution of exploration, platforming sequences and puzzle-solving depends on each particular world.

If you can't wait to get the ball rolling, both literally and figuratively, you can do so right away, as Venineth is available now on Steam for Windows PC.