In Sink is a co-operative puzzle game featuring eight maps where players can choose to play with friends or strangers online. From exploring a ship to an uncanny hotel, players must work together to complete puzzles, combining platforming gameplay to reach their goal of escaping the island.
Developed by Clock Out Games and published by Kwalee, In Sink is challenging, requiring strong communication and teamwork to complete puzzles. Fans of It Takes Two and A Way Out may enjoy taking things up a notch with In Sink, as it demands players think beyond the ordinary, dealing with unique patterns that must either be matched or deciphered as codes, using a lighting panel to create patterns, tackling platform segments, and more.
As you step into In Sink, you arrive in a hub where you can select levels and invite a friend from a thermal pad. Shifting focus to the main objective, players have eight levels to complete to escape the island, with the first level serving as a tutorial set on a ship. After completing the tutorial level, three levels are unlocked immediately, set in a noir timeline: a museum and a train carriage. After completing these three levels, players must unlock levels five to eight one by one after each completion.
“In Sink is challenging, requiring strong communication and teamwork to complete puzzles.”
What I enjoy about In Sink is the stylization, designed to help players relax with its bright, cartoonish, pixel art style and fun themes. For example, the second level is set in the noir film period, using popular tropes like a chalk body outline as if you’re in a detective film, a diner, and a mysterious atmosphere in a black-and-white colour scheme. Another level I want to highlight is level six, set in Hollywood, where players use the Walk of Fame for puzzles. There’s also a fun Breaking Bad Easter egg — the iconic RV riddled with bullet holes.
A level that stands out to me when playing In Sink is, without a doubt, level seven, as the entire atmosphere is uncanny yet intriguing. While the game usually has a fun tone, stepping into level seven feels like a complete 180. Without giving too much away, there’s a segment in a hallway where you navigate a maze mixed with puzzles. This was by far the most unsettling moment for me and my friend, as the dark atmosphere kept us wondering if anything unexpected would happen. We even encountered a fluffy creature we saved, only to run into a floating dragon head.
Despite how much I enjoyed the game, I felt like some of the puzzles would be dragged out for way too long. The biggest example of this issue was the maze in level two, as it is very challenging with one person needing to control the platform to form a path and another needing to be guided to exit the maze. Despite being challenging, you think you would’ve been done after completing the puzzle, yet you need to complete another maze with the role reverse. Having to complete two very time-consuming mazes back to back was an annoyance that I think some people may not be fond of.
The other issue I have with In Sink is the hint function. This is a very minor problem, but there are times when the hint function won’t give you much information or context to help you out, leaving you and your partner even more confused about how to complete a puzzle. Other than that, the hint function does its job most of the time, sometimes giving you an answer for the first section of the puzzle to help give you an idea of what you need to do for the rest.
In Sink was a very interesting game I had to play. It required me and my friend to use our brains to the max as we explored all the levels in a fun and unique atmosphere. That being said, some puzzles often feel like they are dragging on for too long, and sometimes, the hints leave you still confused about what you need to do to complete the segments.
