What goes on inside a computer? It’s a question I actually ask myself a lot. Even as someone who used to work directly with developers, I could never quite wrap my head around how lines of code could become a functioning website. It all seemed like a complex puzzle and I had nothing but respect for my coworkers who were able to navigate it with ease.
That thought process comes to life Mainframes, a delightful new platformer from French developer Assoupi. The curiosity is all set inside of a PC, where a humble floppy disk must navigate a maze of desktop windows and garbled code to restore order to the machine. While it’s a light bit of entertainment with little narrative to speak of, Mainframes is a clever 2D platformer that has a blast visualizing what it’s like to conquer a mess of programs.
After a short bit of story setup, Mainframes puts me in control of Floppy and sends me platforming through a computer’s desktop. Various windows become platforms and walls I can bounce up, all while avoiding red splotches that briefly terminate my square friend. At its core, Mainframes plays a bit like Celeste. It’s a pure platformer that has me timing my jumps and air hovers to navigate tricky platforming segments one screen at a time.
The twist on that familiar idea comes from its PC desktop aesthetic. Each obstacle I jump through has a different property I need to learn if I want to save the day. There are some windows I can move with a mouse, allowing me to rearrange the platforms and obstacles on screen. Others change my gravity when I pass through them, forcing me to carefully toggle different windows on and off in the right order to safely end up on the other side of the screen. There are a few desktop icons I can interact with too, including a settings gear that changes the position of icons like (literal) launchers. Each world playfully riffs on different desktop staples and eventually mixes them together to create platforming challenges that require careful execution.
It can be complicated to get the hang of some tricks, as there are no tutorials or assists. Getting through the brief adventure will require players to learn everything on the fly and engage in trial and error to clear screens. That should be relatable to any web developers out there who have ever dared to tame a program. Though like real development, there are always workarounds, and that’s my favorite part of Mainframes. While the platforming segments are tightly designed, I learn early on that there’s sometimes an easier way to solve them. Tricks like wall jumping can sometimes allow me to skirt around a problem entirely, safely taking me to the other side of the screen thanks to a little mental ingenuity.
I almost stopped playing during a particularly tough gauntlet where platforms formed in a box around me. It was a long string of challenges with little room for error and I just didn’t have the endurance to make it through. After a lot of struggle, I started breaking it down like a science problem in search of an alternate solution. Sure enough, I discovered a way to skip the section altogether by jumping up a wall at the right moment and leaping over to a locked exit. If I stood there long enough, the platforming sequence would play out itself and I could grab the key without the work. Mainframes rewards players who play smarter, not harder.
While there’s not too much substance to its PC setting beyond light Y2K nostalgia, Mainframes is a charming little indie on par with similar puzzle platformers like The Pedestrian. It takes a simple gimmick and doesn’t overplay it, delivering a concise platformer that’s great for a weekend afternoon. It may not answer your burning questions about how your magic PC works, but it’s fun to reimagine all of it as one big puzzle.
Mainframes is out now on Nintendo Switch and PC.
