Hue – Nindie Spotlight – A Splash of Colour

There are a lot of excellent indie games out there, some would even say too many. In this incredibly busy world, you’ll find time to play only a tiny fraction of them all. Some games, unfortunately, you’ll just pass by. Maybe you don’t have the time, it’s expensive, or it just doesn’t seem like a game that’s for you. However, if you make time for a single indie game on the Nintendo Switch this year, it has to be Hue.

Hue is a short and sweet adventure game developed by Fiddlesticks. You play as a young boy named Hue, a great pun. The gameplay consists of navigating through the world by solving puzzles. Your objective is to find your mother, a scientist who turned invisible after inventing the colour ring, an object that allows you to manipulate the colour of your environment. 

I go by The Never Yak, and this is your Nindie Spotlight for this week – Hue.

World Of Colours

The entire game revolves around changing the colour of your background. This allows you to render objects invisible, deactivate lasers, and access new areas. Most of the levels take place underneath your hometown, where you were left after your mother’s disappearance. You follow a mysterious, hooded figure through the caverns, collecting fragments of the colour ring. 

All of the characters in Hue’s lovingly crafted world are black silhouettes that contrast nicely with the block colours behind them. Despite being crazy colourful, something we’d usually associate with joy and life, Hue actually comes across as a very melancholy game. I think most of this comes down to the beautifully composed soundtrack. 

A Captivating Story

The story is told through letters from Hue’s mother that you usually collect at the start and finish of each chapter. As these letters are read aloud while you continue with the levels, the narrative of the game was something I really looked forward to and it never felt like a drag.

Through each letter, you learn something new about your mother’s scientific studies regarding colour while also hearing stories of the man she worked with, Dr Grey. You discover how Dr Grey then turned evil, trying to shut down your mother’s experiments and return her work to the university she studied in. The emotions portrayed in the story ties in with the colour you most recently collected, adding another excellent mechanic to the narrative.

Puzzle Perfection

Although Hue was often very challenging, I was never stuck on a level for long. The pacing was steady and kept me captivated all the way through. There have been multiple examples of colour as core mechanics in games, but I’ve never seen them used in such a unique and beautiful way. In each chapter, a new colour is added to the game, making the levels increasingly complex and intricate.

Along with a new colour to enjoy, you also get a cool new object to work with. Boxes, buttons, paint, lasers, and even giant skulls! Although these elements work perfectly well individually, the best puzzles occur when all elements are combined.

Hue is colourful, creative, and surprisingly beautiful despite the minimalist graphics. The wonderful story and complex puzzles keep the game moving forward right up to the game’s wholesome ending. It has something for everyone to enjoy and should not be missing from anyone’s Nindie library.

Hue bring color to my world.

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There is your Nindie Spotlight on Hue. Join us next time for another brief look into the Nintendo Switch’s best Nindie titles. What are some of your favorite indie games? Let us know in the comments below! Thank you for visiting Nintendo Link.