Timelie review - "A terrific time-bending puzzle adventure"

• Manipulate time to control two characters simultaneously
• Majestic sci-fi atmosphere
• Challenging puzzles to solve

Step into the shoes of a young girl with the psychic ability to see the future in Timelie. A new puzzle adventure with a focus on stealth, Timelie features beautiful, stylised graphics. Work together with a mysterious cat to slip past robotic guards, survive disintegrating environments, and escape with your life.

Timelie Doesn't Over-Explain Itself

Timelie doesn't feature an overly complicated story. Its straightforward tale of a girl with precognitive abilities attempting to escape a hostile scientific facility is told completely through imagery. The lack of dialogue lends Timelie a majestic, dreamy feel. There's no explicit narrative. Everything from the girls' origins and reasons for escaping to the facility's purpose is left to interpretation, which is pretty cool.

You are stranded alone in a scientific facility full of hostile robots. To survive, you must fix passages with your special powers and unlock doors by reaching controls without being seen. Luckily, your psychic powers let you restore broken passages and predict your enemies' security routes. Timelie features media player-style rewind, fast forward, and play controls to manipulate time.   

Use Media Player Controls to Rewind Time in Timelie

Use the rewind and fast forward buttons on either side of the screen to move through time. After reaching your goal, tap the play button to view your journey through the level. The media controls feel like a natural choice for controlling time and are easy to master. 

While progressing through a level, a white line near the play button indicates how much time you have left. Pay attention to this, as if it reaches the end before you finish the level, you'll no longer be able to move forward in time. This can mean doing quite a bit of rewinding to figure out where you wasted time.

Use your time-bending abilities to scout enemy paths. If a robot sees you, it will quickly hunt you down. Make sure not to step into the blue cone of light robots emit when looking around. If this light turns yellow or red, you've been spotted. Of course, you can always rewind and try again. 

Escape Alongside a Feline Friend in Timelie

After a few chance encounters, a curious feline joins your team, and this is when things get complicated. You'll need to go back and forth through time as you switch between the two in order to get them both safely through a level.  

Both characters have distinct abilities you'll need to take advantage of to complete levels. The girl can unlock doors using control panels and repair broken paths.

However, your feline friend can emit a distracting meow, causing robots to search for it. Meowing has a cool-down period, so use it wisely. The ability to distract your foes with a simple meow is a cool, well-executed concept. Additionally, the cat can travel through small vents to reach new areas and escape enemy clutches.

Timelie is an Enchanting Puzzle Experience

To repair a broken pathway, you must first collect a spark of power. Often, you'll need to stealthily navigate past an enemy or two to reach them. If there are multiple paths in need of repair, you will want to carefully choose which one to fix, or you may find yourself stuck.

Timelie is an inventive puzzle-adventure that blends a sci-fi aesthetic with stealth gameplay. The time manipulation mechanic is well thought out and provides some incredibly challenging puzzles.

Further, the concept of single-player co-op, in which you must constantly switch between characters while moving through time, is nothing short of genius. With a charming, futuristic aesthetic, inventive puzzles, and adorable protagonists, Timelie is an epic puzzler you won't want to press pause on.