Review: Arranger (Nintendo Switch)

Arranger is an indie action-puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch. This top-down adventure features a sliding-tile mechanic that creates all sorts of interesting problems to solve. Let’s delve into the ins and outs of this unique outing.

The plot follows a girl named Jemma—yes, I now share a name with a cool video-game protagonist, and I couldn’t be happier. It seems our in-game Jemma mysteriously arrived in a peaceful town as a baby. Now that she’s old enough, it’s time to leave the relative safety of her village to seek adventure in the outside world.

Of course, things are dangerous beyond the city limits. An entity known as static has corrupted objects, and Jemma sets about putting things right. Our plucky heroine is ready to take on any challenge that comes her way. These tend to come in the form of blocked passages, requiring a little lateral thinking to work out how to continue.

Arranger’s trick is that the ground beneath Jemma moves with her. The whole world is divided into squares, allowing you to slide across each area, moving objects with you. This gimmick is easy to pick up, and opens many possibilities. For example, if a passage is blocked by an enemy, sliding a sword into it will let you through. Other traps might involve a laser to somehow block or a button to press. It’s head-scratching at times, but satisfying to solve.

Something I didn’t expect to find among the puzzles were boss fights. These are an excellent break from the brain teasers, presenting unique and elaborate ways to defeat each one. Perhaps you have to loop a long enemy back around and onto itself by sliding certain tiles. Or maybe you need to arrange objects to sit atop buttons to open up a way to attack. It’s unlike any traditional boss design I’ve played, and I love it.

Arranger does a great job of balancing this danger with light-hearted characters and dialogue. There’s plenty of humor among the quirky characters. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the stay-at-home inhabitants of a village who receive everything via mail (delivered by robot birds, no less) and have consequently lost the ability to socialize. How do you convince them to come out of their homes? It’s all part of the adventure. 

Apart from the main quest, Jemma also embarks on interesting side quests, such as using moving tiles to pair two animals. Those shy creatures aren’t going to procreate without a little intervention, it seems. To further focus the adventure on these types of puzzles and characters, Jemma doesn’t have any kind of health bar or life meter to stress over. In fact, she can’t die at all. This balance makes the game more accessible to players of all ages. 

Graphically, Arranger looks terrific. The top-down style reminds me of SNES-era titles, presented in a colorful world. Cutscenes use a comic-book layout, capturing emotion through static images. Even the background is special, with interesting backdrops behind the action that gives the game an artistic feel.

Overall, Arranger is a creative outing with a perfectly balanced sense of adventure. The light-hearted tone couples with the unique sliding mechanic to present something different and, most importantly, fun. This is a title worth checking out.