- A puzzling game about elevator management
- Use your quick tapping and thinking to get people around efficiently
- Depend on the RNG to give you the people and points you need
Don’t think too much about elevators or you’ll realize that they’re literally large metal boxes suspended precariously over a shaft of NOTHING. Even with that in mind, many of us depend on elevators throughout the day, whether it’s going to different floors in the office or in our apartment buildings.
However, there’s a hidden chaos surrounding them that Dylan Kwok has brought to the surface with Going Up. It’s a 3D fixed-perspective puzzle game where you’re in control of all the elevators in the building. That means that people won’t get to the floors that they need to without your help, and you’ll see whether the game is on the level.
What is Going Up?
Do you ever wonder about the names you read on those plaques in elevators and w onder what they actually do? Going Up doesn’t answer that, but it may be putting you in the shoes of one of those people. You’re an Otis, but with a semi-omniscient twist: you can man all of the elevators in an area.
These elevators seem to rely solely on your inputs, meaning that all the people are at the whim of your elevator control. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they won’t get impatient while waiting, and that is why you need to be efficient. Only you know what’s up and what’s going down.
Elevated by Going Up
There’s only so much you can do with something as simple as an elevator – this isn’t Willy Wonka’s Factory, after all. However, Going Up manages to make them into something fun to play around with. The premise is simple: move the elevators and help the different people get to where they need to go.
You only have to worry about tapping elevator doors, but you’d be surprised how much it sucks you in. You’re at the mercy of how fast the elevators can move, and so every time you press a door, you’re gambling that you’ve timed it right to meet the person as they arrive.
The elevator restrictions aren’t the only aspect of a challenge when it comes to trying to complete the different floors – there’s also the people. Much like customers in real life, these elevator riders are impatient, demand nothing less than perfection, and won’t show any gratitude when it’s given (unless you want to count the points that appear above their heads).
There aren’t instructions, so you have to figure out how each kind of person behaves when they’re waiting and in the elevator. It’s all about deciding who gets priority – and if Jerry shows up, well, you gotta look after Jerry.
Going Up Downsides
Even though Going Up is quite a solid and tight game that’s easy to pick up, there are still issues weighing it down. The biggest one is the sheer amount of RNG. Each level challenges you to collect three stars by earning a total of 40 points. Sounds doable, but remember Jerry?
He’s the janitor, he’s important, and he HAS to get where he’s going. This is a sensible requirement, but Jerry takes up an entire elevator and quickly drains your points the longer that you take to take him where needs to go. He also ends the level when you deliver him three times, but you can’t control when he shows up.
Again, this wouldn’t be a problem, but you’re dependent on the RNG to give you enough people to get points. If Jerry appears before enough people arrive in the right places to get the speed bonus, then you pretty much have to start over. Some levels begin with people spawning in places that make it impossible to get the speed bonus, which is another reason to try again and hope that the elevator gods are kinder the next time around.
The only way is Going Up
Going Up is a 3D puzzle game about controlling a series of elevators in a diverse skyscraper to get people to the right level as fast as you can. It’s fast, simple, solid, and challenging in a way that seems just possible enough to keep you engaged.
It still needs to work on balancing the power of Jerry’s presence and the RNG for people appearing. As someone afraid of elevators, I still enjoyed moving a bunch of digital people up and down the levels of a skyscraper that could serve as a resort, club, amusement park, and space facility all at the same time.
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