Playing A Game Particulars PC

Particulars is almost immediately reminiscent of Transcripted, in its effort to bring together laboratory science, a personal story, and traditional gameplay. The vibe is different, though -- Transcripted having a dramatically-tense narrative, and arcadey action, at the cost of resorting to pseudoscience to make it all work.

In contrast, Particulars (from what I played) tells a much mellower tale, and makes an effort to rely mechanically on - as well as educate the player in - real particle physics. That's pretty cool.

What isn't as cool is that the gameplay is incredibly shallow and unrewarding. Transcripted, aside from having little to do with science, managed to balance several engaging puzzle and action mechanics on the screen at once. Particulars is disappointingly simple in comparison, revolving almost completely around particle charges (attraction and repulsion) and compatibility (mutual annihilation). And the fidgety nature of the particles' movements frustrated me in the same way that World of Goo and other "physics" games tend to.

I lost interest in Particulars before even finishing the demo. Not because of the low-key storytelling, which I actually felt showed some intrigue after finishing a few levels; but because of the tedious, uninteresting game in the middle of it.

Progress: Didn't finish the demo.