Steam Drops Fabulous '5D' Freebie Perfect For Retro Gamers

Steam users have been blessed with one of the most charming platformers we’ve ever played, and it’s yours to try for free if you feel up to the challenge.

It’s a miracle that platformers have never gone out of style. They’ve changed with the times for sure but the core mechanic has stayed the same. Get from A to B in any way you can.

Screenbound flips things on their head though, or rather its axis, as you’ll be playing a 2D and 3D platformer simultaneously.

The True 5D Experience

After being trapped inside a video game world in search of their mother, players must navigate a strange digital landscape visible from two different perspectives.

You can look around the 3D space freely with your eyes but with a Game Boy-like gadget called a Qboy, you’ll be able to see things you otherwise couldn’t from a pixelated 2D point-of-view.

Only when you combine these perspectives will you be able to make it to the end of a stage, as there are some paths that are only visible using the Qboy, a vice-versa, of course.

Examples include hidden doorways, collectibles and sometimes platforming is just easier from a 2D perspective as you can better judge the speed and distance of your jumps.

There’s certainly a knack to it. Keeping your eye on both parts of the display can be tricky at first but you’re free to move the Qboy around the screen or put it away completely if it’s obscuring your view too much, or not enough.

The demo I played at Summer Game Fest was good fun, and as someone who adores old-school platformers, I think the idea behind Screenbound is inspired. In fact, I’m surprised a game like this hasn't been released sooner.

If you’d like to play it for yourself, you’ll be glad to hear that a free demo is being offered through Steam.

Gamers are invited to take the Qboy for a spin in the first few levels, and honestly, you’ll be glad of the practice if you decide to play the full game.

Screenbound will launch on Xbox, PlayStation and PC via Steam later this year. The Steam page marks 10 September as the release date but for whatever reason the Xbox and PlayStation stores haven’t been updated.

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