14 DAY TRIAL // 
The special jumping pad is frustrating me. I need to better target my fall, power an even higher jump, and then get the pad in two positions without having to pass through an anti-entropy barrier. I finally find the best positions, make the first jump, rewind time to get the pad to its next position, execute the second jump and find the door.
The game will soon introduce a range of other special objects, adding complexity to the puzzles. Speed pads will become important and the player also has to deal with barriers that reset certain puzzle sections. But I will constantly need to think about time, how I move objects through it and how manipulating its flow can get things in the right place at the right time.
The station I’m in continues to disintegrate around me, an immense catastrophe is happening, and the only chance to deal with it is to accumulate enough time energy to reverse the flow of time on a truly massive scale. All of this can only be done by solving puzzles.
The Entropy Centre is developed by Stubby Games and published by Playstack. I played using Steam on the PC, with the game also available on the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, and older devices from Microsoft and Sony. The title offers a first-person puzzle experience with action elements.
Our protagonist is Aria, who wakes up with no memory on a space station. There seems to be no other human around and an Artificial Intelligence keeps talking about catastrophic events threatening Earth. The rooms and corridors she is traveling through also seem dilapidated, filled with weeds and debris.
Aria’s only companion is ASTRA, another A.I. that lives inside the gun-shaped device that can mess with the flow of time. The tone of the dialogue is mostly joking, despite the massive danger that Aria finds herself in. The closest reference point is Portal, but with less charm and more of a feeling of dread hanging over the whole experience.
And just like in the Valve title, the gameplay is structured around a device that will bend the limits of space-time to your will. The entropy weapon has the ability to target objects and move them back in time. The game sets clear limits to justify its very structured puzzles: it does not work on anything that’s alive and there’s a limit on the mass of targeted objects.
Most of the time, the device is employed to solve the many puzzles spread throughout the facility, all of them designed to harness entropy and power a reactor to save Earth. There are also action sequences, during which gamers need to rewind destruction to make progress or activate equipment.
The Entropy Centre does not give players a way to accelerate how quickly time moves forward. This means finding solutions for the puzzle rooms requires a significant shift in thinking. A crate might start off powering a certain door but for the player to exit the room, that same object will have to move between two or three other places in sequence.
Aria has to perform a dance to place objects and then rewind them so they end up in the perfect place to solve the problem. Try to start off by figuring what’s the final state of the system you’re working with and then work backward to see the states that items have to move through.
As gamers make progress, they will have to account for new room obstacles and opportunities. The level of complexity rises quickly. Puzzles aren’t exceptionally complex but to reach the solution players have to experiment, consider their failures, re-think and shift perspectives.
The Entropy Center’s puzzles have the ability to deliver that exhilarating Eureka moment and rarely frustrate. Don’t forget that you can stop a rewind at any point and remember to look at the paths objects will take before committing to a potential solution.
When I felt I made no progress on a problem, I found it helpful to step away from the game and let all the pieces of the puzzle rumble around in my head. I usually hit on a promising new approach while brushing my teeth or making coffee.
The Entropy Centre borrows a lot from Portal but its various components never quite gel in the same way. Rewinding time on objects to solve puzzle rooms is a cool idea, well executed. But the space station never feels like an actual place. The dialogue that flows between the protagonist and A.I. sometimes feels forced.
I like the title’s puzzles but if frustration with them sets in, there’s little else to push forward for. This is why playing in short sessions, with plenty of time to think between them, seems like the best approach.
The Entropy Centre manages to create a believable science fiction setting with its presentation, although there’s less variety than I would have wanted. There’s a sequence that puts Earth in the frame that’s genuinely affecting, although the gamer pushes the player to move and solve puzzles which diminishes the impact. The sound design is also decent, with voice actors that do their best with the lines they are given. The soundtrack adds to the immersion and works well with the science fiction theme.
The Good
- Time rewind mechanic
- Puzzle design
- ASTRA as a companion
The Bad
- Draws too many comparisons with Portal
- Some forced emotional stakes
- Too many locked doors
Conclusion
The title’s presentation is good, even if the rooms are largely interchangeable. Aria and ASTRA work as protagonists, even if their banter is not stellar. The Entropy Centre is the kind of puzzle experience that will attract both long-term fans of the genre and newcomers with its unique time-rewinding idea. But it stays a little too close to its inspirations, underlining how hard it is to improve on the classics.
A review code was provided by the publisher.
