The graphics are somewhat basic in that they’re not massively eye-popping or anything, but that doesn’t matter as you really aren’t there to take in rich environments. You’re there to get your ship to safety. The visuals work very well for the game such that they don’t distract from the gameplay or your concentration in anyway unlike some other games I’ve played recently.

The sound is perfect for the game in that there’s not amazingly annoying music, it’s sort of like old Mario music, eventually it will piss you off, but really it’s the frustration from the game levels themselves and the music isn’t really the cause. Plus, you can turn it and all the sounds off as well.

Nimbus, of course, features standard gameplay mechanics like you would expect to find in this type of game. Alternate routes leading to additional levels, unlockable ships and light trails and collectible coins. There are only 68 of the coins but they are not all that easy to collect. Some require luck others skill and many will require multiple reloads. The nice thing is that once you hit it, you’ve got it and don’t need to finish the level again.

Since it’s available via Steam there are online leaderboards for time on all the levels. Scoring inside the top 100 will put you in a fairly elite group of physics-conscious, gravimetric, momentum-saving players who probably spent hours in the game so far. You might even see me show up in some of those top 100 charts still though I’ve dipped to the upper 200s on many. There are also 17 achievements in the game. See Page 3 of the review for screenshot gallery and achievement listing.

Then, just when you’ve think you’ve got the hang of it, they throw you a curveball in the form of gravity changing pads. Yeah, these guys are sadistic. But it adds yet another element to the game that keeps it from getting old. Of course, it won’t do much for your potty mouth and if someone were to hear you playing without seeing you, they might think you’ve got a really bad fit of Tourette’s, because the game will have you swearing (to whatever level you are capable of doing that, being ex-Navy, I could burn the ears off of some people).

Really, we need more games like Nimbus. Games that make you think (and swear), games that actually teach you something (though you don’t know it), games that break the mold of the common and venture into the realms of the unknown in order to create new, interesting and challenging gameplay. This game is well worth the price of admission (9.99) and will definitely give you a nice big hours-to-dollar/euros/pounds ratio. 

Page 3 of the review is only the screenshots gallery and the Steam Achievement lists, so if you’re not interested in that stuff you can skip it.