Picto is an exciting new mixed-reality puzzler coming to mobile, with a demo available now

• Picto is an upcoming mobile platform puzzler that uses your camera
• Record your surroundings to transform them into terrain
• It has a demo available and an upcoming Kickstarter in the works

The words innovative, game-changing and disruptive tend to get thrown around a lot nowadays. It's often deployed with a lot of hyperbole and met with a sceptical eyebrow raise from most. So trust me when I say that the upcoming mobile puzzler Picto caught my eye because of how interesting it was.

Available as a demo on Android early access and iOS TestFlight, Picto is a simple and straightforward platform puzzler. So what's so interesting about it? Well, the fact that your surroundings form the level itself!

Yes, by using the front camera on your phone, the custom engine for Picto picks up your surroundings. It then converts them into platforms your character can hop and bounce along on. I'm sure someone out there has tried something like this before, but Picto looks to be far more than a simple tech demo.

Demonstrable

For one, there's the fact that you can download a demo of Picto now and give it a try for yourself. And as far as proof-of-concept goes, that's a pretty convincing example. There's also a Kickstarter in the works to push development of Picto even further.

I won't lie and say I can't see some potential issues with Picto. For one, the core mechanic is one that will need some innovative twists to prevent it from growing stale. If the cheat code is simple to find a flat, angular surface, it won't have much staying power. But I'm definitely interested in seeing how this develops further and what new mechanics it might introduce.

Staying Ahead of the Game on great releases like this can be a hassle. Fortunately, you've got us to help keep you up to date. More than that, you've got Catherine and Ahead of the Game, our regular feature, where this week she's digging into Airship Go!