Backbeat

Backbeat is a puzzle game with strategy elements. It was developed by an independent studio Ichigoichie.

Plot

Backbeat is set in the 1990s, in the suburbs of Washington, DC. The game's main character is Stephanie "Watts" Watson, who creates her own band after discovering funk music. Once she manages to recruit four bandmates, she and her friends together challenge the favorites of a popular art school during the so-called Battle of the Bands.

Mechanics

The gameplay of Backbeat is shown from an isometric perspective. The game revolves around solving puzzles reminiscent of Sokoban. The puzzles are turn-based, tasking us with moving characters across the boards to make them reach their goal at the same time. Switching to a different character returns the previous character back to the starting point, as they now move as previously planned in parallel to the current character. To succeed we must lay out a path that lets our character reach the goal in as few moves as possible and plan out our next steps beforehand. Once we're done planning, we can let all the characters move at once, waiting for the game to grade us for our solution.

Although laying out paths for two characters isn't too tough, things get much more complicated with three and four characters. As if that weren't enough, each character has a limited number of moves. They also frequently encounter obstacles they (or their bandmates) must deal with to open the road ahead. This forces them to interact with the environment, other characters or to use their special skills tied to their musical instruments. The bass guitar lets them squeeze through tight spaces, the keytar lets them avoid guards, the saxophone can move enemies out of the way while the drums can break through walls.

Technical aspects

The visuals of Backbeat are cartoonish and fairly simple. The soundtrack was composed by Pete Fraser - session saxophonist for such bands as The Pogues, Friendly Fires and Field Music - being one of the game's strongest aspects. Curiously, parts of the soundtrack change depending on the path we take in each stage.