Humanity on PS5, PS4 Is Equal Parts Puzzle Game and Existential Nightmare | Push Square

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After checking out the Humanity playable demo earlier this year, we now know what we're dealing with. What appeared to be so unusual and inexplicable before can now be handily described as a surrealist spin on Lemmings. Get this gaggle of folks from A to B using a string of well-placed commands. That summary holds up against a near-final build of the game, which we've now played for many hours, but the full experience throws in a good dose of bizarre imagery and existential musings for good measure.

Before we get to all that, let's recap. Playing as a glowing Shiba Inu, the game has you laying down instructions for a procession of mindless people in order to help them reach the exit of each level. To start with, you can only make them change direction, but the game quickly gives you new commands — Jump to make them hop in the air, Branch to make the stream of people split into two, and so on. With each new command, stages rapidly grow in complexity, and that's before we consider the introduction of obstacles.

You may need the humans to push blocks around, activate switches, ride conveyor belts, and more in order to reach the goal. Combined with stage-specific limitations on your commands and each level's geometry, these simple elements combine into some seriously tricky puzzles. It all works wonderfully, and the minimalist rules of Humanity are so straightforward that you really do only have yourself to blame for screwing things up. Importantly, when you do crack the solution, it feels great.

We love how it looks, as well. The humans appear in such numbers that there's a certain flow to their movement. When a level is done and you get a revolving shot of the people carrying out your solution, it looks very pleasing,