14 DAY TRIAL // 
I switch my character over to the leftmost track, which seems to be clear of obstacles, while also glancing at the words of the enemies ahead of me. I type, as quickly as possible without making mistakes, three of them, before I notice a bigger word gliding from left to right across the screen. I’m also busy avoiding incoming explosives, dropped by opponents that I have not eliminated by using words. So I miss the crossing word and take some damage. It’s a bad idea to try and do two things at the same time, so I activate my shield and focus on typing for a while. I can see a checkpoint in the near distance. And I am already thinking about the final boss of the level, which will truly test both my ability to quickly type out words and my vocabulary.
Outshine is developed by Fishing Cactus and published by Fishing Cactus and PID Games. I played on the PC using Steam. The title is built around typing mechanics, with arcade elements and a wide range of gameplay options.
The hero is Hue, a humanoid who has a way with words. He has also been experimented on by the oppressive Shards. Having unlocked his true powers he is now bent on revenge, able to use his abilities to find and destroy them.
Snippets of narrative are delivered anytime gamers reach a checkpoint inside a level. It’s a good enough story to keep engagement up but it’s not the main reason to keep pushing forward. The narrative also lacks impressive turns of phrase, which is a pity for a video game that’s so preoccupied with words.
Outshine is part of a relatively niche gaming space, the typing genre. Players will spend a lot of time looking for words on the screen and then replicating them as quickly as possible on their keyboard (there’s no need to ever touch the mouse after launching the game).
But the typing takes place inside an arcade experience, with Hue constantly running forward on a track, having to avoid obstacles and incoming attacks. Don’t allow the visual spectacle of the game to detract from its core objective.
The aim is to reach the end of the level while scoring as many points as possible. And it sounds much easier than it actually is, probably because it asks the brain to deal with movement and words at the same time. Hue’s movement is limited to changing from one running track to another but it’s crucial to pay attention to incoming explosives and enemies.
Stay out of their way and try to quickly type them out of existence. The character does have a shield that allows him to ignore incoming attacks but it does not last for long. Our hero can also use special abilities, like launching a salvo of rockets, to take down a bigger number of enemies at the same time. There’s a temptation to only use them toward the end of the level, but I found that it’s better to deploy them each time a situation becomes a little hairy.
Outshine asks players to get into a rhythm. Glance around for words, and transfer them into memory but don’t start typing yet. Evaluate the combat space and decide whether you need to move Hue to avoid something. Do that, then start furiously typing, aiming for combos, and trying to hit as many enemies as possible. Keep in mind special moves but do as much damage with words as you can before resorting to them.
Each level ends with a boss, which introduces his own pattern of attacks and comes complete with difficult words. I like their weirdness and how they forced me to re-evaluate my approach and my knowledge of the English language thesaurus. Turns out dodging powerful lasers while spelling “Kidwellite” is pretty hard.
To make sure that the typing action is enjoyable for all players, the game offers support for a variety of layouts, including Qwerty, Azerty, Qwertz, Dvorak, Colemak, BÉPO, and more. When it comes to languages, players can test their typing in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, with support also coming for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Polish.
The layout is also fully customizable and there are accessibility options for those who need them. Outshine also features an extensive set of modifiers that can be set before a level to either make it easier to make progress or to add to the difficulty for those chasing the highest possible score. Make sure to experiment with them, even the ones that move the difficulty up, because it is worth seeing how they tweak the gameplay. I felt no shame in making a run as easy as possible because I really wanted to see the end of the level boss and his unique words.
Outshine features a pretty trippy look, influenced by Tron, the Matrix, and classic arcade games. The screen can get very busy at times and players might have a tough time picking up all the words they need to type. But the graphics fit well with the theme and if you hit a state of flow moving through a level becomes a thing of beauty. The soundtrack is equally solid, pushing the player forward through this dreamlike dystopia, and the sound effects communicate well what’s happening to the player's character.
The Good
- Typing focus
- Arcade elements
- Customization options
The Bad
- Difficulty spikes
- Limited narrative
- Can be a little overwhelming
Conclusion
The sometimes over-cluttered visual space can be frustrating, as is the fact that it’s often hard to make progress without dropping the difficulty. Outshine gets bonus points for its innovative mixing of ideas and will certainly make any player much better at typing after some sustained sessions.
A game code was provided by the publisher.
