Continuity

Continuity combines a platformer with a sliding puzzle in the style of the fifteen puzzle - the level is divided into square tiles that the player moves around a grid to piece together, from the scattered pieces, a passable path for the little character. While moving a tile doesn't move the character itself, every shift changes the shape of the platforms around them, so the player is actually solving two puzzles at once - a spatial one and a timed one. The controls stay simple, arrow keys for movement and the mouse for moving tiles, but the player has to shuffle tiles at just the right moment, since a shift takes effect immediately, even under the feet of a running character.

The idea of combining classic jumping sequences with rearranging squares was fresh among Flash games in 2009 and is still part of why Continuity is occasionally mentioned as one of the smarter puzzle concepts of its generation. The graphics are restrained, with clearly readable colored areas, thanks to which the player can immediately see, even after several tile shifts, where they can continue on. The progressive levels also add new types of tiles and obstacles, so the basic principle never starts to feel repetitive.

Behind the game stands the studio Ragtime Games, which built the principle on a simple but well-developed rule and gradually added more complex mechanics, such as carrying objects between tiles. In the context of browser games from the end of the decade, it's an example of how, even with limited resources, a puzzle can be designed with its own easily recognizable identity. Thanks to this, Continuity still holds today the reputation of one of the more inventive puzzle platformers of the entire Flash era.

Why play it: Fans of logic games will appreciate the idea of rearranging tiles turning into a spatial platforming challenge unlike anything found elsewhere.