ElecHead is a delightful platformer with a few gameplay mechanics that work really well for its manageable scope and size; You play as a little electrically charged robot that powers up any surface that it touches, activating blocks, platforms and hazards along the way. I got through the whole thing in a single sitting, and it was pretty fun!
The game starts fairly simple and explains most of its mechanics without text, with only some pictures and trial-and-error rooms to make you understand how it plays; For instance you might see some destroyed robots in the spikes and this tells you everything you need to know. There’s really a good easing for the first few sections, and the game checkpoints you constantly, so even if you mess up you don’t lose much progress.
There are no upgrades to get except the ability to throw out your head and electrify certain things while you move around in another part of the room, and this works fairly well because there are no enemies and you die in one hit to any hazard, the game focuses much more on each individual room being a puzzle - and after a while you get some light metroidvania action with collectibles that you can find if you backtrack or explore off the critical path.
I’ve gotta say that some puzzles near the end frustrated me; some of them required you to time throwing your head and counting seconds before something in another room happened (I have to say I wasn’t the biggest fans of puzzles that used things in rooms you didn’t see), or at some point I was just jumping around randomly trying stuff and solving puzzles that way feels pretty bad. Luckily it didn’t happen a lot!
ElecHead was pretty engaging and absolutely didn’t overstay its welcome. Check it out if you have the time :)
