Echo Weaver<\/em> is a platformer due to arrive next month from Moonlight Kids, known for 2021 hit The Wild at Heart<\/em>. It\u2019s also a Metroidvania that feels a bit like a roguelite, but with more emphasis on puzzles and hand-crafted stages. Put another way, it\u2019s a comfortably familiar adventure that\u2019s also a little different from anything you\u2019ve played before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The game begins by dropping the player character into an alien environment and setting them free to explore until they either die or run out of time. Whatever they discover, that\u2019s the fruit of a single \u201ccycle.\u201d Then they reappear to attempt some of the same things again in the familiar corridors (stages are handcrafted, not procedurally-generated), while relying on knowledge gleaned from their previous runs. As play progresses, the world they know naturally expands. They find ways to push further in all directions, and to unearth secrets about the mysterious complex that contains them. In the process, they might even learn new things about themselves.<\/p>\n Chris Sumsky, game designer, programmer, and Moonlight Kids co-founder, recalled some of the thinking behind the game\u2019s design, which takes cues from the 2019 indie hit Outer Wilds<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are time loop games, of course,\u201d Sumsky told Polygon, \u201cnot least of which the very one we were inspired by. There are knowledge-gated games, not many, but they\u2019re gaining popularity. And naturally, there are platformers. Many\u2026 many platformers. But we weren\u2019t seeing anyone really combining all these into one.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t Gameplay doesn\u2019t feel especially intense when you put aside the pressure time naturally exerts. As I ran through the demo, which I explored thoroughly over an hour and a half or so, I encountered only a few enemies. The experience reminded me of a time I played a Super Metroid<\/em> demo at a Sears kiosk and spent several minutes roaming alien corridors, wondering what I was supposed to do next. In Echo Weaver<\/em>, you\u2019re rarely short of ideas. The minute you spawn again, you make a beeline for that corridor where time expired, eager to spend a few more minutes unearthing its darkest secrets.<\/p>\n Sumsky admitted that a person armed with the right knowledge might boot up the game and reach the end in under ten minutes. \u201cThe only thing stopping you is what you don\u2019t know yet,\u201d he says, \u201cand that\u2019s the whole fun of the game! The discovery is real discovery, not just unlocking a new item or ability you didn\u2019t have before.\u201d<\/p>\n From my own time with the game, that\u2019s accurate. Each new cycle began with a run through brief challenges I\u2019d already vanquished. But on the second or third exposure, they somehow felt different. I knew to run ahead of the spiked block, leaping along platforms to reach safety at the far end of the corridor. I knew to demolish rubbish along the way for resources. By streamlining processes, I bought myself more time to practice tripping a series of switches to open a new gate so I could drop into an unfamiliar new area.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a hard thing to wrap your head around right away,\u201d Sumsky said of that gameplay loop. \u201cVery few games do this. So that feeling keeps coming back again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n A lot of the puzzles (and even much of the traversal) come down to what you do with your weapon. It\u2019s a wicked blade that lodges in walls and triggers distant switches, on top of the usual things like obliterating nasty creatures. When you reach new areas, you\u2019ll find new applications that change the way you play for every cycle thereafter. You might start in the same place each time, but tedium doesn\u2019t have the chance to set in before you find something genuinely new. Fast travel is unconventional, in the areas I encountered, but entirely possible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve built in all kinds of cool, weird ways to get around the world as you explore more,\u201d Sumsky noted, \u201cand hopefully ways that are clear as soon as you need them (and stay hidden before that!).\u201d<\/p>\n After my time with the demo, during which I explored an expansive area, I wondered how long it might take players to experience everything Echo Weaver<\/em> has to offer. Some players will blow through certain portions quickly, while others might get stuck on a clever puzzle that someone else grasps within seconds. Or, they might not recognize how significantly a new technique they mastered opens up the world they thought they knew.<\/p>\n A weekly cheat sheet to what you\u2019ll eventually love to play. No buying, no \t\t\tSign up free![\"Polygon](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/polygon-2026-fall-preview-website-element-v2.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n![\"Echo](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/echo-weaver-screenshot-loop-sacrificed.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Moonlight Kids\/Akupara Games<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Echo](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/echo-weaver-screenshot-diving-toward-a-pedestal.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Moonlight Kids\/Akupara Games<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nGet Polygon\u2019s Wishlister newsletter<\/h3>\n
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