What are the best Platformers on Steam?

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Best Platformers on Steam	Price	Steam Rating	Genre
94 Hollow Knight	$14.99	Very Positive	Metroidvania, Action
-- Limbo	-	Very Positive	Very Positive
-- FEZ	$9.99	Very Positive	Very Positive
-- Guacamelee	$14.99	Very Positive	Action / Platformer / Metroidvania
-- Inside	$19.99	Very Positive	Puzzle-Platformer

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33 Other Options Considered

FEZ

Top Pro

Great atmospheric soundtrack

Soft synth sounds mixed with chiptunes makes for an enjoyable soundtrack that evokes a feeling of nostalgia while creating a fitting atmosphere that complements the graphics. See More

Top Con

Slow gameplay

Navigation isn't quick, and each missed jump can make ascending an area feel like a laborious chore. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Charming graphics and world

The characters are interesting and expressive and the world they inhabit varies between vibrant forests and villages, foreboding caves, rainy cityscapes, and more. See More

Top Con

Loads of backtracking

The world is an intertwined maze that rely on specific portals to travel between. Since the entire game revolves around locating cubes -- a minimum of 32 cubes are required to reach the game's ending (64 cubes and "anti-cubes" exist in total). A considerable amount of backtracking is needed to locate the needed cubes; which are intentionally difficult to find and acquire. See More

Top Pro

Mysterious world with lots of depth

FEZ goes beyond just being a great puzzle platformer. It also has a very clever storyline and game world with a mysterious bygone civilization that fits perfectly with the mysterious puzzles of the game. See More

Top Con

Guess-and-check instead of intuitive puzzles

Unlike other great puzzle games like Portal or Braid, many of the levels in Fez are unpredictable. You can't just look at the map and predict exactly what to do. You have to guess and check, and not all of the results are intuitive. While guess-and-check puzzles works well for games like The Witness, it's really tedious in a game like Fez. See More

Top Pro

Brilliant puzzles

Fez has some deviously hard puzzles and mysteries that will require gathering clues from around the world to solve them. See More

Top Con

Very limited depth

The core gameplay loop of "jump until stuck, then rotate" is boring and repetitive within the first hour. Aside from this perspective-shifting mechanic, the game does not have much to offer. See More

Top Pro

Clever 2D rotation game mechanic

The core mechanic of FEZ is the ability to spin the world around in 3D, and then traverse and interact with the resulting terrain in 2D. See More

Top Con

Pen and paper absolutely required for full completion

There is a lot of backtracking and so, you need to keep a pen and paper near you to take notes, because you might need something very important later on. For some people this might be a fun killer. See More

Top Con

Minimal direction

The lack of clear direction + the mysteries of the foreign writing alphabet and numeric systems may overwhelm players who got in expecting a simple & cute platformer game about a white dude with a red hat (a traditional Ottoman hat, which is called a "fez"). See More

Top Con

Frequent crashes on PC

PC version of the game has stability issues. Luckily, FEZ autosaves often so no much progress is lost when the game crashes. See More

Top Con

Limited button mapping support on keyboard

FEZ has a couple of preset control schemes to choose from, but the buttons can't have functions assigned individually. See More

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Guacamelee

Top Pro

Local co-op

Guacamelee has local co-op support. See More

Top Con

Controls on the keyboard don't work that well

The game is clearly designed with a controller in mind. Specifically, a mechanic that allows throwing enemies and various objects uses the analog stick to aim. Aiming using the keyboard is limited to 8 directions and is not sufficiently precise. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action / Platformer / Metroidvania

Co-Op:2 Player Couch

Controller Support:Full

See All Specs

Top Pro

Game progression through new moves

Areas in the game are unlocked by performing moves on obstructive blocks, which allows your move complexity to increase proportionally with game progression. See More

Top Pro

Well executed pop-culture references as well as references of other titles

Pop-culture as well as other popular titles within the metroidvania and platformer genres are referenced throughout the game in various situations for comedic effect. And it's done in a very unobtrusive way as to not be annoying. See More

Top Pro

Fun fighting combo system

Attacks in Guacamelee are done with combining lots of different attacks into one devastating and fun to execute combo. See More

Top Pro

Simple yet challenging

There are a lot of combos to learn and moves to master. See More

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Cave Story+

Top Pro

Great storyline

Cave Story offers a pretty deep storyline, more than one would think by just taking a quick glance at the game. There is a reason this game is still so popular after being around for so many years and it's story is it. See More

Top Con

Getting the best ending is almost impossible without a guide

Getting the best ending requires a few highly counter-intuitive if not nonsensical actions to be taken. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Incredibly challenging, with hard mode for veterans

Cave Story is hard and the hard mode even harder, which makes this game great for players looking for a new challenge. See More

Top Pro

Tons of fun and unique weapons

In cave story you have access to tons of upgradable weapons with unique properties for different situations. See More

Top Pro

Multiple versions available

After the initial release in 2004, the game has been ported to other platforms and updated along the way by various fans and indie devs. See More

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Shovel Knight

Top Pro

Retains an original feel despite clear influences

The art design, music and writing maintain a very original feel to the game despite its obvious influences, which is what helps the game stand out, which makes it enjoyable in its own right. See More

Top Con

Enemy design is not always great

Some of the more recurring enemies often have just a pallet swap in order to differentiate them, which comes off as a bit lazy and uninspired. See More

Specs

Genre:Action, Platformer

Platforms:Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Windows, Mac, Linux

Co-Op:2 Player Local

Top Pro

Combination of the best gameplay elements of retro pixel games of the NES era

Combining elements from Mega Man, Mario 3, Duck Tales, Zelda II and Castelvania Shovel Knight excels over the rest of the games trying to cash in on the 2D pixel art revival of recent years. See More

Top Pro

Competent loot system that allows for purchasing upgrades

User can upgrade their armor and weapon through earning loot drops from enemies or digging. The earned cash allows one to purchase upgrades that help the player advance in the increasingly difficult game. See More

Top Pro

Risk reward system

Players can risk destroying checkpoints for loot, which means if one does die after destroying their checkpoints they will have to start from the beginning of the stage. Basically this is a gambling system that can pay off or cause a crushing blow. See More

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Dead Cells

Top Pro

Satisfying combat with a good amount of depth to it

Dead Cells encourages fast-paced gameplay and requires quick reactions. The hits are impactful, the controls are super-responsive, and it's overall very fluid. The game has a good variety of weapons, skills and enemies that all change how the game plays out. Some weapons work best if the enemy is bleeding, some skills hurl enemies at you, some enemies are immune to attacks from the front. Which items you find and decide to keep will change what approach to combat you need to take. See More

Top Con

Shallow story

The story feels totally inconsequential. There isn't much going on with the plot, and what little is there is pretty forgettable. You feel motivated by the progression of the game rather than any emotional connection to the story. If you're looking for something with a stronger narrative to go with the good gameplay, this isn't it. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Roguelike, Metroidvania, Action, Platformer

Platforms:PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Mac, Windows, Linux

Top Pro

Beautiful pixel art graphics

The pixel models for your character and the enemies manage to feel modern in the way the animations flow swiftly from movement to movement. The colorful art design is a nice throwback to the retro games that inspired Dead Cells. It goes hand-in-hand with the side-scrolling gameplay, with a cool look to the monster and gadget designs. The reds, blues, and greens especially pop a lot to give the game a distinct look to help it stand apart from others in the same genre. See More

Top Con

Frustrating for players new to roguelikes

If you're new to the genre, this may not be the best place to start. The game gives you one life (except with a certain perk), so if you die, then your whole run is over. This would be fine if it wasn't so easy to lose all your health in an instant and fall back to level one. This makes it frustrating if you spend a lot of time on a run only for it to all go down the drain from a small mistake. The punishing difficulty can be pretty overwhelming for newcomers unless you're really looking to push yourself. See More

Top Pro

Brilliant game design that presents a good challenge

All the little details come together to make Dead Cells incredibly rewarding to play. Making one mistake can mean death, which makes the game challenging but also fun as you learn how to take on certain enemies with different sets of weapons and skills. Also, every level is procedurally-generated, so even when you die and have to restart it feels unique and different every time. This keeps the game from ever getting old, even after you finish the game on the highest difficulty level. See More

Top Con

Difficult without a controller

Pretty awkward to play with a keyboard. See More

Top Pro

The developers put a lot of love and care into the game

Throughout its time in Early Access, the creators of Dead Cells consistently updated the game with new features, adding entirely new areas and weapons each time. The game could have honestly been released a while ago and fared decently, but they kept making it better. Even more importantly though, the developers took player feedback into account many times. The devs love the game and the community and it shows through their work. See More

Top Con

Still in early access

Can be a pro, considering how good it is now, knowing that there will be more content is great. Already worth it for many people, but many early access games have failed, so time will tell. See More

Top Pro

Tons of unlockables

Top Pro

Daily Runs & Leaderboards

See All

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition

Top Pro

Great soundtrack

Like every soundtrack is so good. While you're hearing this music you can just relax and play the game. See More

Top Con

Extras don't feel like they're part of the game

The Definitive Edition's extras feel like exactly that - extra. They don't feel like they fit in with the rest of the game very well, to the point that I beat the game without ever realizing that I could or should check out that area. See More

Top Pro

Awesome graphics

The game looks so fantastic. It's made with so much love. See More

Top Con

Boring combat system

The combat system is kinda boring and repetitive. It's just about mashing buttons. See More

Top Pro

The difficulty is just right

It's not the hardest game ever made, but it also isn't an easy game, where you can just rush trough everything. You'll probably die sometimes, but it's not frustrating. It has the perfect difficulty for the average player. See More

Top Pro

Emotional story

The story will make you cry, if you don't have a heart made out of stone. See More

Top Pro

Enjoyable gameplay

The controls are intuitive, the difficulty feels just right, the boss encounters are fun, there's a really nice upgrade system, and there are tons of secrets to be found. As a result, Ori and the Blind Forest is an enjoyable experience. See More

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Cuphead

Top Pro

Really beautiful old-school art style

Cuphead is a very unique visual spectacle in the gaming world, looking exactly like a cartoon from the 1930s. The environments, characters, and even special effects are very detailed, colorful, and drawn entirely by hand on animation paper, complete with a grainy film effect. The end result is pure eye candy that puts most modern cartoons to shame. See More

Top Con

Hard as nails

Cuphead mostly consists of multi-phase boss battles that may take you a lot of tries to beat. These involve a fair amount of trial and error, requiring you to gradually and perfectly memorize each boss' patterns, abilities, and timings. This becomes harder because you die in several hits, so even the tiniest mistakes are costly in the long run. It can be really frustrating if you die right before beating a boss since you have to get through the entire fight again. If you're expecting to simply enjoy the old timey visuals and music, you might get severely disappointed. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Excellent co-op

While it can be overly frustrating when you're playing alone, Cuphead also has local co-op for two players, making your adventure easier but a lot more enjoyable. The boss fights become shorter because together you deal more damage, you don't take needless hits because you can cover more blind spots, and you can even resurrect the other player by touching their ghost if you die. This way you still get the satisfaction of a challenging fight, but it won't be as disappointing if you fail. Even if you're not into challenging games, co-op can be a way to enjoy Cuphead. See More

Top Con

The platforming sections are not as good as the boss battles

As confirmed by the developers, the platforming sections before some boss battles were added late into the development cycle. As a result, they lack the same amount of polish and detail you get to see in the boss battles. See More

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VVVVVV

Top Pro

Throwback to Atari/C64 games while playing like a modern game

VVVVVV is very reminiscent of a game one would find for the Atari or Commodore 64 in that the graphics are simple, but the gameplay is anything but as it plays like nothing one would have found back then. It is fast paced and very precise, also extremely tough. See More

Top Con

Not much of a story

The basic plot is that you are trying to save your crew members, but really it is just a loose story to tie the levels together as there is really not much there to discover. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer, Metroidvania, Action

Platforms:Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Android, iOS, Nintendo 3DS, macOS, Linux

Top Pro

Use gravity to solve puzzles

The main mechanic in the game is that the player can switch the gravity in any level allowing the character to flip from the bottom of the screen to the top. This is used in an ingenious way in order to solve puzzles and avoid hazards throughout each level. See More

Top Con

Difficult

VVVVVV is a tough game, one that will cause frustration quite easily. Luckily there are unlimited lives in the game, so areas can be played over and over again with no consequences. See More

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Sonic Mania

Top Pro

Great replay value

While a single playthrough may take you around 5 hours, Sonic Mania has enough content to keep you going for dozens of hours. This is achieved with a combination of addictive gameplay, tons of collectibles, bonus stages, extra modes, and 3 unique characters that make the levels play differently. Even after beating the game multiple times, it stays as fun as the first time. See More

Top Con

Can be somewhat difficult to beginners

If you're new to platform games or gaming in general, Sonic Mania can feel fairly tricky. Both the levels and the boss fights require accurate jumps and/or split second timing to beat them, which may take more more than a few tries. This is especially the case in the bonus levels where you have to chase a UFO. Fortunately, you can get used to this game after a few play sessions. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Platformer, Action

Platforms:Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows

Top Pro

Enjoyable and fast platforming gameplay

Sonic Mania is all about running, jumping, and rolling through levels while avoiding obstacles, bumping robots, and collecting rings along the way. What's even better is that you can move at great speeds while doing it, allowing you to perform exciting feats. This can be launching yourself high into the air from a ramp, or rolling upwards around a pillar without losing traction. It simply gives you an exhilarating sense of speed that will keep you wanting more. See More

Top Pro

Excellent level design

Sonic Mania has 12 levels, each with unique themes, enemies, and gimmicks. This includes a giant sandstone temple filled with water, presenting the danger of drowning, and even a giant chemical plant filled with jelly that can be used as a trampoline. There are also a multitude of secrets and the collectibles are positioned in a way to help you find them. All of this combined makes exploring each level really enjoyable. See More

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Thomas Was Alone

Top Pro

Great story

For what is a pretty simplistic looking game, Thomas Was Alone offers a truly great story that actually gets the player to care about what are basically squares and rectangles. See More

Top Con

Short

The gameplay only lasts about 3 or 4 hours. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer

Platforms:PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, Android, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS, macOS, Linux

Top Pro

Polished ethereal soundtrack

Haunting guitar strums mixed with beautiful piano chords and bits of chiptune creates a very fitting soundtrack that allows for an experience of polish not often found. See More

Top Con

Some puzzles can be difficult

Here an there are a few really tough puzzles in the game which can be frustrating, luckily they are few and far between as the gameplay does not tend to repeat itself too often. See More

Top Pro

Enjoyable professional narration

What really drives the well crafted story home is the wonderful narration done by British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television, Danny Wallace. Not many indie small budget games receive the polish this game has in their voice acting, which really adds to the experience when playing the game. See More

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Spelunky

Top Pro

Roguelike origins allow for quick sessions

Being that Spelunky is at its heart a roguelike the gameplay sessions can tend to be quick as the player will die quite often. This makes for something that can be played in quick bursts throughout the day. the convenient saving also lends to this as a game that is still ongoing can be quickly saved in order to be picked up at a later time. See More

Top Con

Co-op is boring and confusing

In co-op this game is very confusing with little instruction on how to play and with little to spice up the game play it gets boring quickly. See More

Experience

ReflectiveIdiyanale

Awesome! See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Platformer / Indie / Roguelike

Platforms:Win

Co-Op:4 Player Couch

See All Specs

Top Pro

Infinite replay value

Top Con

Difficult to the point of frustration

Spelunky is pretty difficult and some could say abusive, but with practice and a desire for masochism the game can be mastered. See More

Top Pro

Up to 4 player local co-op

Spelunky features 4 player local co-op where players share the same screen, which can get a bit hectic. See More

Top Pro

Skill based gameplay

Spelunky gives the player everything needed to succeed from the start so it is only when the players skills get better will they advance. See More

Top Pro

Expanded gameplay through mods

Ranging from Mega Man to Metroid, there are a tone of great mods for Spelunky all of which make for a new experience in the game which vastly expands the replayability. See More

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Super Meat Boy

Top Pro

Forgivingly tight controls

The addition of a "run" button adds a lot of depth to levels, keeping the run-jump-repeat loop more interesting. The characters have acceleration as well, which demands finesse. See More

Top Con

Cut-scenes lack polish

Between the games gameplay are cut-scenes that fill the player in on the evolving story, sadly the artwork and polish for these cut-scenes shows quite a bit that this is an indie game made by two people as they are a bit unrefined. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Platformer

Platforms:PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, Wii U, Android, Windows, Linux, macOS

Top Pro

Play through iteration is fast

When you die, you spawn quickly to try again. Many games draw out the death, and have to reload. Super Meat Boy immediately re-spawns you so you waste no time. See More

Top Pro

Unique visual style

As is typical of Ed McMillen's games, it looks like nothing else out there. The art style is 2D based but heavily unique with a vector graphics cartoony look. See More

Top Pro

Large number of levels

This is not a game you are going to complete in an afternoon. With 240 levels scattered across 7 worlds there is a lot to play in the game. See More

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Super Time Force Ultra

Top Pro

Humorous story

The story for Super Time Force Ultra consists of the main characters going back in time to alter events in history, the twist being that most of the reasons to do so are petty and selfish. This give the game a pretty light hearted tone that is laugh out loud funny at times. See More

Top Con

Short

The game can be completed in only a couple of hours. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Co-Op:1 Player Co-Op (multiple players on screen mechanic)

Controller Support:Full

Platform:Win

Top Pro

Single player co-op

The co-op in Super Time Force Ultra is actually only single player where in the player co-ops with themself by rewinding time and then playing that time over with what are now two players on the screen. See More

Top Pro

4 different soldiers to play

There are 4 different soldiers the player can use on each time rewind playthrough, each with their own weapon. As the player has more and more team mates on screen the soldier needed for the next point that has not yet been passed may be specific to their weapon. This creates a need for a bit of planning for each and every level. See More

Top Pro

Pixel artwork and sound design are well done

The pixel artwork done by Cappy as well as the chiptune sound design done by musician 6955 both complement each other quite well by both being reminiscent of 8 bit style games as well as more modern by taking advantage of newer technology that allows for more sounds at once as well as more detailed and cleaner sprite work. See More

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SpeedRunners

Top Pro

Level designer for extended gameplay

There is an included level designer so users can design their own levels making for endless playtime through inventing and playing ones own levels. See More

Top Con

Buggy

Like most Early Access games, bugs are to be expected. The game may crash to desktop and players may fall through the level, hopefully these get fixed before the full release. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Easy to pick up and play but doesn't get boring

You can get up to speed in just a few minutes as the controls are very simple to learn, but the game still has plenty of depth, as mastering when to use different skills on different levels keeps it fresh. See More

Top Con

Difficult to play without a controller

Using a keyboard to play can be difficult as it is mainly designed around using a controller, so for those without a controller they may be handicapped playing against others that do. See More

Top Pro

Short matches

Matches are quick and only take a few minutes to play, so it's a great game to play on your lunch break, or when you just have a few minutes of free time. This also makes for a good game to play with friends that have limited time to play online. See More

Top Pro

Interesting movement mechanics

The game has a freeing walljump mechanic as well as a grappling hook that can be used to swing across obstacles, pull towards ledges, etc. This makes for movements that are intuitive and fun as well as well controlled. See More

Top Pro

Fun and intense races

SpeedRunners is an intense race around a 2d course. The camera follows the player in the lead, so if you get too far behind you will go off the screen and instantly die. To stay in the lead you will need to dodge obstacles, use a grappling hook to move faster and intelligently use power-ups. See More

Top Pro

Gives everyone a chance to win

The game is balances up in a way where it's naturally harder for the player in front to see upcoming obstacles, giving players behind great opportunities to get back ahead. This makes the game fun to keep playing in a group as you're unlikely to keep losing to the one over-competitive friend that tries too hard. See More

Top Pro

Fun power-ups

The game includes powerups like homing rockets, freeze rays and magma balls that can quickly change the game and add a level of randomness to each match making for a unique experience every time. See More

Top Pro

4 Player simultaneous, combined local and online

There are 4 slots per game, and each slot can be filled with a local player, a bot, a friend over the internet, or a random internet stranger. See More

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Braid

Top Pro

An ambiguous, yet impactful retelling of a man's downfall and a warning to others

Braid is a story about loss and obsessiveness and how those forces drive the hunt for redemption. See More

Top Con

Story is depressing

There is a definite sense of melancholy while playing this game which can make for a depressing experience while playing the game, which may reduce the amount of time played. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Clever game mechanics

Braid utilizes a rewind mechanic where in the player can rewind the action in the game at any time. This is coupled with puzzle layouts to each lever where the player has to use the rewind mechanics to reach certain spots in a level. See More

Top Pro

Wonderfully challenging

On the outset Braid looks like any other platformer but once any time is spent with the game users soon find that the puzzles are deviously difficult forcing users to think outside of the box and even time itself. See More

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Mirror's Edge

Top Pro

Great soundtrack

The soundtrack's spacious ambient texture coupled with electronic beats and synthetic sounds supplement the game's otherworldly, contrasting setting. The complete soundtrack is available with the purchase of the game. See More

Top Con

Some people may experience motion sickness

In order to maintain its immersive nature, Mirrors Edge has virtually no UI, other than a small dot at the center of the screen. This should ward off motion sickness for most people, but be aware that if you're queasy, you might not feel too well after playing. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-Adventure

Platforms:Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Release Date:Nov 10 2008

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Top Pro

Innovative, parkour-inspired, first-person platforming with excellent sense of motion

The game's core mechanic is about traversing levels using wall-jumps, rolls and slides without losing momentum. It does a great job of creating a fluid sense of motion that you have complete control over. See More

Top Con

Poor combat sytem

The combat system often feels out of place and definitely interferes with the flow of the gameplay. See More

Top Pro

Keyboard controls work quite well

Surprisingly (for an EA game especially) the keyboard controls are actually designed to work quite well. See More

Top Pro

Unique, minimalistic art-style

Mirror's Edge is set in a world where a totalitarian government runs a city and tries to eliminate anything that stands out, such as the free-running protagonist. The levels are created minimalistic, mostly white with aggressively contrasting primary colors, to represent the oppressive nature and sterility of the world. See More

Top Pro

Time trials

There are time trial bonus levels that are free of platforming sections and combat, just pure timed running missions. See More

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