Mini Review: Schim (PS5) - Adorable Platformer Doesn't Quite Stick the Landing

Schim is a stylish platformer with relaxed vibes and a charming soundtrack. Its world is filled with the eponymous little critters. These adorable shadow frogs are the spirits of living things or objects, and everything that can make a shadow has one. The game follows one schim in particular, in this case one attached to a young human.

While you follow along in the man’s shadow you're also able to hop into any others nearby. You’re always connected to your human — that is until a certain incident occurs and your connection breaks. You’ll then need to jump through levels to make your way back to him.

Schims can’t survive outside of the shadows for long. Your little frog can only make a couple of jumps into the light; if it doesn’t land back inside a shadow, you’ll be instantly transported back to a previous section. Thankfully the physics feel pretty smooth and so you’ll quickly work out for how long you need to hold down the jump button. Even if you fail, checkpoints are very frequent; you’re normally only one or two jumps away from where you were.

The game's at its best when it introduces a bit of challenge. For example, the night-time levels where artificial lights flicker, causing shadows to wink in and out of existence, or where you need to solve an environmental puzzle to progress. Unfortunately, outside of a couple of stages, the gameplay is a little too simplistic and quickly becomes repetitive.

It’ll only take you a few hours but once the end credits roll, you unlock a new game mode where you have a limited number of times you can get caught outside of a shadow. You can also reduce the number of hops you can take outside of the shadows to just one. This definitely makes the game more challenging, but doesn’t do anything to ease the repetitive level design.

Overall, Schim is a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. It’s not the kind of experience that’ll change your world, but if you’re looking for something a bit more laid-back and low-stress, you won’t go far wrong with this one.