Satellina Review • Codec Moments

In this episode of Cost of a Coffee, the Prof and Brian are over the moon for Satellina!

“Satellina is a simple puzzle game, where you move a cursor around the screen to collect green particles; sounds easy no. The difficulty comes from the intricate and hypnotic shifting and rotating patterns the particles form alongside their yellow and red brethren, collect all the green ones and the others will change colour; yellow become green and red become yellow. When nothing remains it’s on, on, onto the next one. The game consists of 50 levels across 10 tiers A to J; you’ll be timed to complete the 5 levels in a tier and each time you touch something that’s not green the level resets, but the time will keep ticking away. You’ll need to be quick to unlock additional tiers and if you achieve the highest rank on all 10, you’ll unlock some secret bonus levels.

The game has a simple yet striking style and they aren’t kidding when they call it hypnotic; the patterns formed by the moving particles are beautiful and enchanting. I could watch them for hours, if the timer in the corner wasn’t constantly mocking me. The game also features the most amazing synthpop soundtrack I’ve heard in a while.

The game controls are responsive and easily configured to suit your preference in the options menu; this gave me the idea to study Brian’s hand-eye coordination, with respect to the relative difficulty of the tiers. As predicted on the easier puzzles, his eyes would shift as he transitioned between colour groups or levels, to provide additional input that would aid the planning of his next movements. In the more complex levels however, his gaze would fix, providing continuous visual input and allowing him to adjust for errors and create more precise movement. There was also a lovely example of tracking an object in motion when the puzzle complexity became too much for Brian, as he threw my iPhone at the wall.

The game’s minimalist asthetic couples with a fantastic soundtrack and tight controls make this game a real gem at only £1.49, or $1.99 to our American chums. It’s pretty to look at, sounds lovely and it can be a bit annoying, but never truly frustrating.”