At the time of this writing I've only played Bit Shifter for 2.5 hours, but I've already seen enough to know that I'll be putting a lot of time into this little gem. In fact the only reason I'm not playing at the moment is because I feel compelled to tell all of my fellow gamers about it.

Bit Shifter is an Early Access game, and having been bitten badly by an early access game once before in which the devs just walked away from it unfinished without having done much at all with it, I was somewhat hesitant about signing up for another one. But the price is low enough that I decided to give early access another try. I'm glad I did. Bit Shifter has the feel of an already finished, well polished game, and therefore I can only assume that they've introduced it as an early access game out of an abundance of caution. Thus far I have not encountered any bugs or even as much as a hiccup. In my experience, that's pretty unusual even for finished AAA games from big name studios. Admittedly I've only been playing for 2.5 hours, and there's still plenty of room for a bug to show up somewhere, but I take pride in writing honest and factual reviews, and if any significant problems pop up, I won't hesitate to amend my review, though to be fair I always notify the devs and give them a reasonable amount of time to fix it before writing it up. Essentially, the more hours past 2.5 I get without amending the review, the safer you can feel about the game and the game devs’ willingness to fix problems.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty of what this game is about, and what makes it fun. Bit Shifter takes place in a cartoon world representing a computer. Even the clouds floating by overhead are circuit boards! If the game is nothing else, it is one giant Easter egg packed full to bursting with more Easter eggs, many of which are puns or word play on their original meaning.

The computer world you play in is under attack by viruses (viri?), and the defence of the computer world is up to you and a gigantic armada of flying saucers similar to yours except... a rather explosive event right at the beginning wipes out the Armada... soooo... the defence of your computer world is up to you alone. Your job is a difficult one. Not only must you destroy the viruses, but you must do so before they spread far enough to enter your world's body of water which is named (what else could it be?) the Bit Stream.

Fortunately you don't have to fight the viruses entirely alone. Your flying saucer, named (wait for it...) Scandisk can carry tiny soldiers called "Bits". How many Bits can your ship carry? How many would it take in order to take a byte out of a virus in a computer world? Eight bits make a byte, so eight! Obviously. So you fly over to the virus and do what Scandisk was notorious for. Drop bits!

Learning how to use Scandisk and its weaponry, and the world around you could not be easier. It's built right into the story line. The first few maps are dedicated to it, and you are given enough time at the introduction of each new button/key press or concept to become proficient at it without waiting so long to introduce new concepts that it becomes boring. It's a tour d'force on how to teach new users how to play a game, so much so that it would be wise for developers even at the largest studios to take note of and learn from it.

The game also boasts a broad range of difficulty settings beginning with a setting that a crippled snail could defeat, on up to a difficulty level which would challenge any professional gamer well versed in flight sims or outer space combat games. This is proving to be very useful to me not only because I'm a crippled snail, but also because I'm learning how to use a new controller (a Steam Controller) which is much more sensitive than my old one. As I become more proficient with the new controller I'll be able to increase the difficulty, even in the middle of a level during an intense fire fight if I want more of a challenge.

I've only scratched the surface with this review. I'll close by saying that it's really amazing to me that this is an early access game put together by a two man indy development team, especially at its price point. It is excellent value for money not only because of its almost infinite replay value, but also for reasons too numerous to list. It's obvious that this game is a labour of love for its two very talented developers; else it could not be what it is.

Happy Gamming!

(And don't pass this one by)

At the time of this writing I've only played Bit Shifter for 2.5 hours, but I've already seen enough to know that I'll be putting a lot of time into this little gem. In fact the only reason I'm not playing at the moment is because I feel compelled to tell all of my fellow gamers about it. Bit Shifter is an Early Access game, and having been bitten badly by an early access game once before in which the devs just walked away from it unfinished without having done much at all with it, I was somewhat hesitant about signing up for another one. But the price is low enough that I decided to give early access another try. I'm glad I did. Bit Shifter has the feel of an already finished, well polished game, and therefore I can only assume that they've introduced it as an early access game out of an abundance of caution. Thus far I have not encountered any bugs or even as much as a hiccup. In my experience, that's pretty unusual even for finished AAA games from big name studios. Admittedly I've only been playing for 2.5 hours, and there's still plenty of room for a bug to show up somewhere, but I take pride in writing honest and factual reviews, and if any significant problems pop up, I won't hesitate to amend my review, though to be fair I always notify the devs and give them a reasonable amount of time to fix it before writing it up. Essentially, the more hours past 2.5 I get without amending the review, the safer you can feel about the game and the game devs’ willingness to fix problems. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of what this game is about, and what makes it fun. Bit Shifter takes place in a cartoon world representing a computer. Even the clouds floating by overhead are circuit boards! If the game is nothing else, it is one giant Easter egg packed full to bursting with more Easter eggs, many of which are puns or word play on their original meaning. The computer world you play in is under attack by viruses (viri?), and the defence of the computer world is up to you and a gigantic armada of flying saucers similar to yours except... a rather explosive event right at the beginning wipes out the Armada... soooo... the defence of your computer world is up to you alone. Your job is a difficult one. Not only must you destroy the viruses, but you must do so before they spread far enough to enter your world's body of water which is named (what else could it be?) the Bit Stream. Fortunately you don't have to fight the viruses entirely alone. Your flying saucer, named (wait for it...) Scandisk can carry tiny soldiers called "Bits". How many Bits can your ship carry? How many would it take in order to take a byte out of a virus in a computer world? Eight bits make a byte, so eight! Obviously. So you fly over to the virus and do what Scandisk was notorious for. Drop bits! Learning how to use Scandisk and its weaponry, and the world around you could not be easier. It's built right into the story line. The first few maps are dedicated to it, and you are given enough time at the introduction of each new button/key press or concept to become proficient at it without waiting so long to introduce new concepts that it becomes boring. It's a tour d'force on how to teach new users how to play a game, so much so that it would be wise for developers even at the largest studios to take note of and learn from it. The game also boasts a broad range of difficulty settings beginning with a setting that a crippled snail could defeat, on up to a difficulty level which would challenge any professional gamer well versed in flight sims or outer space combat games. This is proving to be very useful to me not only because I'm a crippled snail, but also because I'm learning how to use a new controller (a Steam Controller) which is much more sensitive than my old one. As I become more proficient with the new controller I'll be able to increase the difficulty, even in the middle of a level during an intense fire fight if I want more of a challenge. I've only scratched the surface with this review. I'll close by saying that it's really amazing to me that this is an early access game put together by a two man indy development team, especially at its price point. It is excellent value for money not only because of its almost infinite replay value, but also for reasons too numerous to list. It's obvious that this game is a labour of love for its two very talented developers; else it could not be what it is. Happy Gamming! (And don't pass this one by)