Retro platform game with a story!

Platform games have always told stories, but they’ve usually been about rescuing the princes who’s been captured. That’s hardly the deepest story you could tell, and Terry Cavanagh’s Don’t Look Back is a good attempt at something more profound.

Visually, it wouldn’t look out of place in 1983, but the simple graphics are actually really effective. The sound is equally basic but beautifully executed. You control your character with the keyboard, and controls are introduced neatly in-game.

The game is a series of static screens you have to pass through. Some are really easy, others quite frustratingly hard. However, there are no lives in Don’t Look Back, if you die, you simply repeat that screen (occasionally a series of screens) until you’re successful.

The retro styling won’t be to everyone’s tastes, and it may be a little hard for some, but Don’t Look Back is interesting because it does tell a story (no spoilers here!), and it’s one that might make you stop and think.

Well made, often surprising and atmospheric, Don’t Look Back is a great little indie game.