Gameplay
The gameplay of A Long Climb Ago was originally pitched as Tetris meets Mario, and we can absolutely see why, as the climbing gameplay of this game is both a challenge to your reactions as much as it is a test of platforming and dexterity.
A gameplay image of Amara at the start of the game.
What starts off as a simple test of manipulating falling blocks in order to create structures to reach new parts of the tower quickly becomes a frantic race for survival, as you react to an increasingly-varied set of falling blocks to continue your ascent.
Block manipulation isn't just about moving each block to your preferred area in the level though. You can also manipulate the position and angle of the blocks by rotating them with to rotate the block anti-clockwise, or using or to rotate blocks clockwise.
Gameplay from the early section of the game.
If all that wasn't enough, soon you're given access to the time-freezing mechanic (activated with a press of the button to freeze/unfreeze), which lets you stop time and hold the blocks in place. Not only does this give you a brief respite from blocks threatening to land on your head, it also helps you to get past tricky sections of each level where reactions and timing are key.
As you can imagine, the difficulty quickly escalates later on.
As can be seen from the video above, soon the blocks are a myriad of different shapes, and appearing from all angles, so you need to stay alert and quickly get your platforming skills up to par, or you might just experience a fatal injury. But thanks to the time-manipulating mechanic, what could have been a lost arm 'tis but a scratch.
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