Line/Dash

Line / Dash is a cute little arcade game developed using Unity by Davide A. Fiandra. According to the Steam page it’s an “action” game, but I’m not sure how one could spend more than two seconds playing Line / Dash and decide that. The concept is simple: hit squares that fly from the right hand side of the screen to the left with lines that are controlled with your mouse. You may be expecting the classic “this game is deceptively simple” marketing term that’s applied to games with simple control schemes, but no. It’s that simple.
After playing the short tutorial (and by short, I mean a left click and then a right click), you’re thrown into the vibrant, geometric world of Line / Dash. Gameplay starts simple and doesn’t get any more complicated. Drop a line with left click, then make it “dash” to the right with right click, with the aim of colliding with a square. Once a square has been hit, the line returns to the vertical axis, where you can again make it “dash”. The goal is pretty simple, but if you fail to hit a square you will lose one of your three lives. Once all three lives are lost your score is tallied up and you're added to the online leaderboard, which at the time of writing doesn't seem to have many on it (my pitiful first attempt was apparently the 75th best in the world).
The gameplay is about as casual as you can get, but that doesn't take away from the game. The neon visuals and sound design form the biggest positive for this game: as you drop lines and dash across the screen to collide with the squares, colours will change and previous lines will persist, forming the "multimedia sculpture" mentioned in the game's description. This leads to an almost hypnotic experience, with the vibrant lines combining with the changing background to make an almost artistic experience. More often than not I would find myself being more interested in making a good-looking series of lines rather than adhering to the rules of the game. There is also a fairly limited "soundtrack" to the game, which mainly consists of dull thuds when lines collide with squares, and a short jingle that plays when you achieve a combo.
On the bad side of things, this game gets old fairly quickly. I spent about half an hour on the game, and that was more than enough to get a feel for it. It gets pretty boring after a little while, as the game has a severe lacking in variety. I feel like this is a little bit of a missed opportunity for the developer, because despite the initial good impression, Line / Dash never capitalises on that running start. It also feels a little empty without a proper soundtrack, perhaps something a la Tetris would help to fill the void. Similarly, while I gave the visual aspect of the game a glowing review, I also feel like it's missing exactly that: glowing. The cherry on the top of the visuals would be a pulsating neon line rather than a persistent one.
All-in-all, however, this game is a great little gem to pick up with some petty cash. I can see myself coming back to it every now and then to kill ten minutes. The modest price tag is a huge bonus, as well. If you've got £1.50 lying around in your steam wallet, Line / Dash is as good a purchase as any in the price range.
(It should be noted that the game comes with a warning for those that are sensitive to contrasting bright colours. Definitely give this game a miss if this applies to you.)
This review was written on behalf of TeamTom's Reviews, who also provided the key. You can check out the steam group here, or visit us on our website

A very interesting abstract game.
1)
You left click to make an arrow fall down from the top left corner of the screen.
2)
You right click to make the arrow (or arrows) turn right, (e.g. towards the right side of the screen).
3) If you hit an "enemy", the line gets split in two (so that it's now two arrows going up and down.
GOTO 2
I think the game is sold at a very low price, too! Just watch a video! I'm sure you'll like it! :)
I just wish the Arcade Mode started a bit "harder", but I guess the current pace is ok to fit a wider audience.

It seems like a classic arcade game based only on "gameplay", "challange" and "my dick is bigger than yours", but there's a secret meaning here: "Can a line that strikes a rolling tiny cube in Italy, cause an earthquake in Tokyo?"
The answer, my friend, is (blowing in the wind): YES.
This particular "Butterfly Effect" is the real metaphor hidden in this original videogame based on Bogostian philosophy and the Newton's Third Law. There's no separation between interaction and narration, the first is the consequence of the second: you can tell a story through the act of guiding a loop of lines and hitting a rolling tiny cube with a combo between action and equal and opposite reaction.
WTF? Let me explain.
All those lines? -> our opportunities.
All those changes of directions? -> our choices.
All those tiny cubes? -> our targets/goals.
All those epileptic colors, sounds and geometric shapes? -> the combination of consequences.
If you click the mouse button you can change the direction of a line and hit a target that gives you another two new opportunities of hitting another two targets. And so on. But if you fail you miss the target/goal and you need to try again, changing your future/direction.
Don't you find a job (change of directions) for earning bigmoney (the lines) and paying the bill (the tiny rolling cube)? YOU ARE FU***D! (the epileptic colors, sounds, shapes, GAME OVER). Cool.
It's like a "wannabe-RPG" that doesn't need any real RPG-like features, because a real RPG it's only about "choices & consequences" and C&C it's also about "show, don't tell".
So that's it guys: Line/Dash is a Bogostian videogame about C&C that show us the metaphor of the challanges in our life through an original gameplay. The New Tetris.
Bravo. Bis. 7+.
PS: all that EPILESSIA? -> OUR *DISAGIO*.

Line / Dash is a wonderful game and expertly designed. It provides a perfect "pickup & play" experience that requires skill to master but always leaves you feeling that if you fail, it's been down to the fact you ain't good enough and not because of unfair game mechanics!
Lovely minimalist graphics and palette choice bring on feelings of Playstation 2 era games such as Rez, but in a beautifully simple 2D fashion. Perfect for the current era of games
Highly reccomended for the lessons it can teach you about games design alone.

What a great game! simple and addictive lilke tetris... just five more minutes and 1 hour has gone playing!
Totally worth the price it costs.

The whole game is visibile in the preview video: it's a challenge between you, time, and squares- those damn squares, how much I hate them!
Very addictive.
SPOILER: at sometime in the end, you'll lose.

A nice arcade game, relaxing but compelling at the same time, once you start play you wanna costantly improve your score. For two bucks it's a steal.