Redder follows an astronaut as he cruises over Mars. Suddenly, and without explanation, the crystals he was transporting in his ship are teleported to the surface. naturally, he lands and searches for them. That's the extent of the actual story of the game, but there's more to the theme than just this quiet narrative. Elements around the landscape and in the game offer more clues to the in-game universe than you would initially gather from the intro. In the end, however, there's no story. Everything is throwaway, and you could put the story anywhere.

The graphics of Redder are done in Anna Anthropy's normal pseudo-minimalist style. Everything is blocky and clear, with not much embellishment in animations or artwork. This is perfectly fine, as the game is about exploration more than admiring the environment. The clean graphic style also makes for a strange juxtaposition later on in the game once everything starts to corrupt. The music is gloomy and depressive, while the sounds stick cleanly to the retro end. However, as you progress, the music becomes more and more creepy, to the point that it may become unplayable for some players. Don't say we didn't warn you!

The goal of Redder is to gather 27 jewels from around Mars. You do this through platforming, puzzle-solving, and other normal side-scrolling conventions. Redder's level design is absolutely fantastic, though, which sets it apart from many other games. There are 9 sections of Mars, with each having approximately 20 rooms and three jewels contained within. The game has a map system, so you can always tell where you are and where undiscovered jewels are as well by simply pressing M to bring up the map. There's also four secret rooms to discover, if you enjoy that sort of interactivity hunting. If you complete the game, including all the secret rooms, you also get a number of medals.

Most of puzzles of Redder revolve around the use of red and green switches. These switches are pretty simple, but provide you with many difficult puzzles thanks to some clearly inspired level design. A green switch causes all green blocks to disappear and red blocks to appear, and the red switch does the opposite. One section in particular is a series of blank rooms with colored blocks providing your only method of movement, so mastering their usage is key to finishing the game. Other obstacles include turrets that shoot out little energy balls and moving robots. However, you can't attack and nothing chases you down, which makes this purely a platforming game.

We've hinted at it earlier in the article, but here's where the spoilers come in. Much like Amon26's other games, Redder incorporates a theme of corruption. As you collect each gem, the world begins to corrupt and glitch out more and more, until it reverts to an Atari-esque game, complete with simulated beeps and boops. This gradual descent into madness is not only mimicked in the graphics, but in the sound as well. The first time your hear the music track glitch, you may wonder if it's your computer. We assure you, it is not. It's Anna Anthropy and Amon26 playing tricks on you! It works to great effect thanks to the subtlety of the changes to the game, but eventually you will realize that something is definitely wrong with either you or Mars.

The obscure and vague nature of the corruption leads to a number of interpretations of Redder. The first is that exploring the bleak environment is taking its toll on the explorer's mental stability. In his quest to gather all of the jewels and escape, he's spent way more time along and stressed by the prospect of death than anyone else should be. This is our favorite interpretation, as it strikes upon themes of loneliness and tedium. Another is that the jewels are somehow hallucinogenic or harmful to the astronaut's psyche, causing him to gradually go insane. Either way, you are losing your mind.

The general feel of the game is one of intense creepiness. It's not quite the nightmarish hellscape of Au Sable, but it's not exactly a walk in the park either. The music is gloomy and foreboding from the very start of the game, with the gradual corruption only making things worse. The grinding and churning sounds messes with your emotions. The environment is also very bleak, with a wasteland vibe thanks to muted colors and simple outlines. You truly feel alone from the start of the game to the very end, and the game attempts to reinforce this at every possible opportunity.

Redder is, at the end, a thoroughly interesting game. It starts out sad but playable, and quickly descends into the mouth of madness. There's not many more Flash games that combine both excellent gameplay and art house themes into such an accessible package. You can play Redder on Newgrounds, and expect it to eat up anywhere between an hour to two hours of your time, depending on how good you are at solving puzzles.

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