This year’s Day of the Devs (opens in new tab) is packed with indie games that I very much want to play, but Schim (opens in new tab) might be at the top of that list. Developed by Ewoud van der Werf, Schim is an environmental platformer about a little blobby frog guy who jumps from shadow to shadow to get around.
Schim kinda seems like that part in Splatoon where you dive into ink and dolphin jump over a gap to land in another pool of ink, except your little shadow creature has to navigate to the real modern world from the shadows. It’s basically a platformer with a world of irregularly shaped platforms that move around constantly.
In the Day of the Devs segment, we see a few fun examples of this, like hopping from car shadow to car shadow to cross a street like it’s Frogger or hitching a ride around a bend in the shadow of a bicycle. You also seem to have a degree of control over the objects you’re currently inhabiting. In one instance, the player bends the sign they’re hiding behind and slingshots the Schim across the street into a scooter’s shadow. Adorable.
Van der Werf says Schim is inspired by his memories of playing games with shadows as a kid. I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one who’d walk to school to and try to step only on shadows the entire way.
Schim has no release date yet, but if you’re liking the look of it as much as I am, you can wishlist it now on Steam (opens in new tab).