When I tried out ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard at Summer Game Fest Play Days, I couldn’t remember the color wheel. Thankfully, the pause menu had a helpful reminder graphic. I am curious to see what the breakdown is or if I’m sitting here like Tobias Bluth exclaiming, “There are dozens of us… DOZENS!” Anyway, Chroma Gun 2 is an upcoming puzzle game developed by Pixel Maniacs and published by PM Studios. You use the titular Chroma Gun (or I suppose Chroma Gun Mark II) to shoot at walls, robots, and other objects. Walls and canvases attract objects of the same color.
Enter The (not quite 36) Chambers
The demo started at the entrance to ChromaTec. We are introduced to Richard, one of the test overseers, who directs us to enter the first chamber. Richard reminded me of Norm MacDonald with the way he quibbled things. This game’s sense of humor would be right up my alley. The first couple of puzzle rooms were straightforward – use the Chroma Gun to direct some orbs so they hovered over a pad to unlock the next room. Once the rooms started tossing in the whole having to remember what made green or purple, that’s when I was grateful for the color wheel reminder. It was easy to undo any decisions or reset the room if I got stuck. I was also provided hints to help move things along.
The next chamber got pretty wacky. Now I was trying to turn the chickens different colors to get them to line up. There was a new test overseer, so I’m imagining each section has a different person. I’m also sure I managed to solve one puzzle through a combination of timing and dumb luck rather than the intended solution, but that’s honestly half of the fun of puzzle games. I made it to the end of the demo. While I didn’t come close to the speed run record, I may have achieved the chillest run record.
Get Ready to Laugh
The humor of ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard can be summarized by the list of NOT valid reasons for non-participation.
- Not having participated in the Testing Track Mark 1 (i.e. ChromaGun 1; No prior knowledge necessary)
- Color-blindness (A color blind accessibility mode is available at no extra charge)
- Fear of birds (except chickens)
- Fear of magnets (They’re colors, not magnets)
- Fear of being involuntarily forced to perform tests on an experimental color-based firearm (this will never happen)
ChromaGun2: Dye Hard is scheduled for a 2025 release. You can grab the demo and Wishlist it now on Steam!
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