When Night Shift first launched onto Steam Early Access it immediately compelled me, although likely not for the reasons developer Brandon Brizzi intended. It made me recall memories of playing Night Driver on Atari, as if that is something anyone would wish to emulate today. Night Shift is effectively a puzzle game in Early Access because the story needs to be filled out a bit more. Some puzzles may also require tweaking since it seems some players have a lot of trouble with them.

What is coolest about Night Driver at the moment is how it places you inside a car during the middle of the night with no other explanation. You drive in the dark and find lights – and ghosts. Why? This strangeness is immediately compelling. Puzzles relate to messing with light, as they did in Brizzi’s last game 1000 Amps. Ghosts provide vague hints to point players in the right direction but sometimes that isn’t enough.

On multiple occasions I found myself confused with what to do next. It seemed as if the road repeated continuously with no way to break the cycle. Somehow, it always seemed just as my patience ran out that I would suddenly solve a puzzle. Pressing onward was sometimes a stilted process but it sure felt good to finally solve tough puzzles. Right now there’s at least one puzzle that hopefully gets tweaked, as it relies on watching a pattern that is very hard to see from the car’s angle.

Both from a visual and audio standpoint Night Shift is already 100% ready to go. I am a big fan of the pixelated objects in a 3D landscape. Their stark and simple coloration is pretty stylish as well. As for the music it is an excellent 80s-style selection. If you’re curious, here’s a link to artist Dance with the Dead’s “Out of Body” album page. “Robeast” is by far my favorite track in the game!

I enjoy Night Shift’s quiet, secretive tone. In some ways it worries me that too much exposition might be brought to the game’s final version. Whatever ends up happening this is still a tremendously unique title. Lovers of mysterious games should check it out.