36 Fragments of Midnight is a charming procedurally generated platformer on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our 36 Fragments of Midnight review!

 

As I mentioned before, 36 Fragments of Midnight is a procedurally generated platformer. Most games of this genre have tons of replay value, but this one falls a bit short on that end. The layout of the assets is randomized for each run you do, so you might find more traps of one type for one run while a second or third run will feature a bigger variety or a focus on a different type of trap.

You play as a white square shape called Midnight, hence the name of the game, and you will be moving from left to right, jumping and double jumping onto various platforms on the stage, with multiple short levels you can explore above or below your starting level. The aim is to find the 36 fragments that have been scattered all over the place, and it all needs to be done in a single go. If you miss a jump, don’t have enough momentum, or don’t figure out where you need to go before it is too late, you will die and will need to start over.

And once you manage to find all 36 fragments, you will still need to go back to the starting point of the game before you can complete your adventure. Once you get there, the game is over and you will can to start all over again with a different set of platforms, enemies and traps. There is no difficulty setting, and the only button you will use is the A button to jump and double jump. I do want to mention that the game’s music is quite charming, and that the graphics are nice but nothing spectacular – the use of black, blue and the glowing aura of Midnight do look good.

The game, once you get the hang of things, can realistically be completed in 10-15 minutes at most. There’s only a single “stage” in the game in which the platforms, enemies and traps are randomized, and the game isn’t that hard once you get a feel for its controls. In fact, I had my six-year-old Goddaughter play it a couple of times and she indeed managed to finished the whole thing in a quarter of an hour! I have a feel that this budget release is aimed at families with young children below the age of six who will have a bit more trouble with the game but will learn as they go. It’s not a bad game, but it is a short one with some limited overall variety.

36 Fragments of Midnight is a short procedurally generated adventure that is a budget release for Nintendo Switch. It offers us an option for our younger family members to have a crack at a platformer they can easily understand and complete with some trial and error here and there. If you have young ones below the age of six in your family, then this might be a good option.

Disclaimer
This 36 Fragments of Midnight review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Ratalaika Games.