Leap Year is a clumsy platformer about knowledge and discovery. Explore a compact, hand drawn world filled with hidden paths. Understand the game’s secrets to reach new areas and collect all the pages of your calendar.
At the heart of the gameplay is a unique jumping mechanic that challenges players. Your character can only jump a fixed, predetermined height, and fall damage is a significant threat. This forces you to carefully plan and execute each jump, as simply button-mashing or relying on reflexes will often lead to your demise. Mastering the nuances of this system is key to progressing through the game.
Rather than unlocking new abilities or power-ups, progression is achieved by uncovering the game's hidden mechanics and rules. As you explore the compact, hand-drawn world, you will gradually discover the various intricacies of the jumping system, such as how it interacts with different environmental elements. These "aha" moments of understanding are a major source of satisfaction and drive you to keep exploring.
The game's levels are praised for their exceptional design, which seamlessly integrates the unique jumping mechanics. Each screen presents new challenges and encourages you to think differently about your approach to the platforming. The levels often feature hidden paths and secrets, rewarding careful observation and experimentation.
While the overall experience is relatively short, the game's design allows for a nonlinear progression. You can backtrack and revisit previously explored areas, applying your newfound knowledge to access new sections of the world. This encourages repeated playthroughs and a sense of discovery, as you uncover the game's full scope.
The game's difficulty curve is well-paced, starting with relatively straightforward challenges before gradually introducing more complex mechanics and puzzles. It does an excellent job of teaching you the core systems without feeling overly hand-holding or tutorial-heavy, allowing you to organically learn and adapt to the game's requirements.