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I heard a lot of glowing press about Expand from the gaming press. There was that Mark Serrels Kotaku article comparing two sides of the Australian indie coin: Hacknet and Expand. Both developers revered each others games even if they never saw eye to eye on matters. I bought Hacknet at launch and disliked it intensely. But Expand was visually striking with an interesting base gameplay mechanic: it sounded like a game that I'd be way into. Maybe that should've been a sign. I purchased Expand and in one sitting completed it, feeling wholly unsatisfied with the experience. While there's an interesting aesthetically-tied gameplay idea at the core of Expand, it feels as if it--excuse the pun--never actually gets expanded upon. It's quite short with a very limited set of light action-puzzle mechanics that oscillate between serviceable uses of the circular mechanic to simply frustrating timing-based puzzles. None of the sets of puzzles and their associated mechanics really feel cohesive or ...

What a phenomenal emotional trip! One of the best games I've played, fantastic combination of character control, puzzles and music. Highly recommended!

As a boy, I always loved mazes, and today one of my favorite things about video games is the ease with which they can impossibly manipulate space. So you can imagine what a dream-come-true Expand represents for me as it continuously draws and redraws its maze, repurposing the same canvas over and over again. It appeals directly to the child at the core of me with its beautifully animated clockwork machinations. The effect is immediately enchanting, but what really surprised me was how dramatic and affecting this experience can be at length. Whether the maze seems to be guiding or daunting you, the flowing rearrangements of its space paired with a dynamically developing musical score create something rather cinematic in style as melancholy piano gradually builds into uplifting chords over encouraging percussion, each step in its evolution magically timed to your actions and progress, eventually reaching a crescendo to accompany a climax of level design. Expand has been described as...

This game is NOT relaxing. It really isn't. Once you get to the harder part, it fucking changes into a time-based reflex game. I wanted this game because I thought it was some calm little exploration game. It was not.

Simple and Beautiful.. This is a top down abstracted journey. Game play is relaxing and challenging at the same time. Soundtrack is relaxing and amazingly good. It's not a maze, but a top down platformer represented with simple geometric shapes.

Wonderful little game if you want something a bit different. Expand is very basic in concept, but it sells itself with its presentation and music. All you have to do is use the left analog stick to steer a red square around a maze, but what a maze! The entire thing is like a living entity, morphing, mutating, spreading, contracting, it's quite a hypnotic thing to watch. Essentially you're presented with a bite-sized navigational problem, and once you solve it the maze evolves into the next one, leading you onwards through its stages. While you're doing this, ambient music plays, tracks becoming more urgent as the action does, and slowing down again as the action does. The music really fits each level, almost urging you forwards through the harder sections, and towards the end it all builds up to a crescendo that'll have you (well it had me) on the edge of the seat. The only downside is that while it starts off extremely slow, like a lethargic Super Hexagon, about halfway through it re...

Just like luminosity (the web/mobile app), but without the mastabatory self improvement propoganda. This game plays with perspective well, the music is good, but some of the cuts and changes are noticable as the game tempo progresses.

Wow. Just, wow. This game is an amazing experience. It's simple and easy to understand, but it's also challenging enough to keep you occupied without frustrating you. It's short, but it's oh so sweet and it's extremely flow-friendly to therapeutic levels. Well done. Very well done. 10/10

Gameplay: guide a pink square through mazes of increasing complexity, relying on pattern recognition and timing. Game autosaves. No Steam Cloud. Checkpoints are generous. Mesmerising, efficient art style. Powerful, evocative soundtrack. Highly Accessible controls - play with WASD or Arrows or Control Stick (recommended). No button presses required except to pause. Considerable increase in difficulty in the 2nd half of the game. Took me around 90mins to finish.

This game is goddamn lovely, and I'd recommend it to everyone. It's short, almost meditative, wonderfully designed, with a beautiful soundtrack and a fantastic flow to it. Brilliantly executed, and lasts exactly as long as it needs to. Buy it now.