Gibbon: Beyond the Trees isn’t a long game – it’s about an hour long with the option of playing on after – and it isn’t a complicated game either. I like to think of it as an endless swinger, in 2D. In the game, you are a gibbon and you hold down a button to swing and then release it to move through the air and keep your flow of momentum going. That’s it, really. There aren’t any objectives beyond travelling to the end of a level, nor is there any reading to do, so everything the game says, it says within those modest confines.
Gibbon: Beyond the TreesDeveloper: Broken RulesPublisher: Broken RulesPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on Steam for £11, Nintendo Switch (£12), and Apple Arcade
And say something it does: Gibbon: Beyond the Trees tells a story of deforestation in the name of palm oil, and the horrid mega-fields of mono-crops grown to produce it. But though it has a clear angle, it doesn’t preach, and that’s what I find remarkable about it.
The game’s main draw is that flow of momentum I mentioned above, and it’s amazing how instinctive this is. It’s a video game thing to want to move quickly and not be held up by obstacles, I think – something I can remember as far back as games have been in my life – and it’s exactly what Gibbon: Beyond the Trees trades on here.
To expand a little on movement. You can swing, which is quite fast, or you can run or slide, depending on the slope. Sliding is fastest, swinging second, running slowest, so you’re always looking for dips to slide in but hesitating because of the risk-reward factor involved in pulling them off, which, if you don’t, can put the stoppers on you. You can also hold the swing button for too long and over-rotate at the end of a branch, holding you up again.
Slowing down may not be the end of the world – it’s pretty quick to get going again – but it can prevent you from missing a jump and ending up on the floor. And again, while that’s not a deal-breaker – you don’t die if you land on the floor – you’re not at your most effective when you’re down there, and you can really feel it.