Recourse

Recourse is a puzzle game set on a scenic, desolate arctic planet inhabited by experimental A.I. units and discarded robots. You play as Sleet, a sentient robot who faces puzzles while trying to understand what is happening. An older A.I. unit named Floe helps Sleet proceed and uncover the planet’s mysteries.

Explore the planet

You can dash, jet-boost, grapple and fly around levels, reaching places beyond the ground. The planet contains environmental hazards; some can be switched on or off, and some can be turned to your side. Glowing objects are color-coded: blue objects are on your side, orange ones belong to Failbots, and yellow ones are hostile to everyone.

You can deploy eight tools to interact with the environment, solve puzzles and counter enemies:

• Circular Saw: destroy crates and other obstacles, or box in and damage Failbots.
• Incinerator: burn enemies and affect heat-activated objects.
• Tesla Coil: damage enemies with electric arcs and power sockets.
• Laser: rotate lasers to damage characters and activate optical receivers.
• Vortex: lift and throw enemies, and power wind-activated objects.
• Thumper: attach it to the floor to launch characters and physics objects into the air. It can send enemies into ceiling hazards, cause falling damage and break glaciers blocking your way.
• Point A: teleport physics objects and characters to an activated Point B.
• Singularity: pull enemies into its center and trap them, making slippery enemies easier to target or pinning enemies against environmental hazards.

Game modes

Recourse has three modes, each with different objectives. Levels contain golden question marks that you can collect toward unlocking WINTER, a mysterious weapon and Floe’s favorite weapon on the planet.

• Puzzle: solve enough puzzles to reach the final checkpoint. Completing puzzle levels unlocks other levels and modes. These levels are peaceful, with few or no Failbots to disrupt you.
• Payload: fight through armies of Failbots, collect their CPUs and deposit them in your wagon. Escort the wagon to the finish line to complete the level; deposited CPUs can be spent on Floe’s upgrades.
• Wave Rush: fight Failbots that grow tougher with each wave. You can keep going for as long as you want or solve your way to the final checkpoint and finish the level when ready.

Levels and progression

The core game has 14 large Puzzle maps, five Payload levels and five Wave Rush levels. It contains more than 100 different puzzle elements and takes about 25–30 hours to complete. Finding every secret and achievement takes longer, depending on how skilled you become.

You can upgrade Floe and access new levels. Collecting all golden question marks awards advanced modules for WINTER. The game has 53 achievements, many earned by completing specific challenges that you can view at Floe’s terminal.

Split-screen co-op

A second player can join or leave the game at any time in drop-in/drop-out split-screen co-op. They can help you through the levels, and the action-focused modes let you battle hordes of Failbots and earn upgrades for Floe.