The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom review

“I hate what time-messing games do to me. Afterwards, for every real-world problem I encounter I expect to be able to slow things down, rewind and undo, or, using Winterbottom's core device, create clones of myself to get past it. I'm not writing this, by the way. Craig #3 is.”

“Craig #2 here. Winterbottom is a devilishly tricky puzzle-platformer, set in a gorgeous silent movie world where you're helping a thief steal time pies. The pies pop up at various points in the levels, unobtainable via conventional platforming. Winterbottom's cloning ability creates a copy of the odious little piethief, who'll repeat whatever action you were performing at the time. You can boost yourself up on a pile of pre-Winterbottoms; you can leave one whacking away at a switch with an umbrella, materialising out-ofreach pies for the present-time you to get at; or one could be on one end of a see-saw, you on the other. Things are getting complicated. Craig #4 will continue while I screenshot.”

“Yeah, so I just set a clone of Winterbottom wacking away on one side of a jump and stood on the other. I created a second clone there and sent him looping towards the whacking clone. We sent this copy to and fro, collecting the pies dangling over the drop. They were only collectible in a certain order, so he needed a damned good banging.”

“Good job, Craig #4. Nice hair by the way. Original and best Craig here: It's a clever puzzle game, that gets a lot out of its one idea. The puzzles are never too obtuse, and never a walkover. It's cheap, witty and will give you a smug glow of satisfaction when each solution pops into your head.”