Game Info: Type:Rider

Developed By: Ex Nihilo

Published By: ARTE Experience

Release Date: April 25, 2019

Available On: PS4, Android, iOS, PS Vita, Microsoft Windows, Switch, Linux, macOS

ESRB Rating: E10+, Fantasy Violence

Genre: Platformer, Education

Number of Players: Single-Player

Price: $2.99 We want to thank ARTE for sending us a copy of Type:Rider for the Nintendo Switch. Thank you very much! As both a writer and pastor, I personally know how important using the proper fonts can be. Fonts are so much more than just the way that letters are written; they convey everything from emotion to urgency. I used to think that typeface fonts were simple artistic expressions of famous people that ended up having those fonts named after them. Boy, was I wrong about that. Little did I know that fonts are the culmination of both history and culture; they themselves tell the stories of the past. How did I find this out? Well, it wasn’t through diving into countless encyclopedias or scouring Google for the answer. No, I discovered this through nothing other than a video game. The game that I am referring to is Type:Rider, an educational platformer created by developers Ex Nihilo and ARTE Experience. Having done a little reading up on the game before playing it, I was skeptical to see if this was anything more than just riding onto letters as platforms to reach an end goal. Among all my doubts, I can honestly say that I was quite surprised by what I actually experienced.

Highlights: Strong Points: Fun and creative platforming with unique level design; a great lesson through the history of typology; soothing music; simple game mechanics

Weak Points: A few UI and stability problems within the gameplay; very little replay value; too simple for some players’ tastes

Moral Warnings: A few intense moments with a gun and laser cat (you read that right) The plot of Type:Rider is very simple: You play as a typographical colon rolling through history discovering the truth about fonts that appeared over the ages. Starting from the origins of print, you roll through various levels that revolve around both the theme and time period of the fonts. Each level consists of 26 English letters and other collectibles that must be gathered to learn more about the history of the typeface. Every time an “@” symbol is collected, a new page in an interactive book is unlocked revealing details about certain pieces of history that may have inspired the way letters are written. Such fonts that have featured levels are Gothic, Garamond, Helvetica, Times, Claremont, Pixel, and yes, even Comic Sans. As boring as the history of typography may sound on the surface, Type:Rider does an incredible job of making it both exciting and engaging. The levels are designed in such a way to reflect the era and place of origin of the font. Helvetica is a font that originated in the Swiss Alps by artist Max Miedinger in the mid-’50s, so the level is a snow-covered ski lodge-type experience through frost-covered letters and snow blowers. The Claremont font comes from Wild West wanted posters, and its level in Type:Rider reflects that. The levels are so engaging that they actually compel the player to do something that games have never been able to do: read. To fully know why the levels look the way that they do, the player must read the descriptions that come up after informational pages are unlocked. It is an educational and artistic experience that very few video games have been able to supply in the past. The game mechanics, platforming, and puzzle-solving that occur in Type:Rider are rather simple compared to other titles on the market. This is not a difficult game to get through and can easily be completed 100% in under 2 hours. Reading all of the information gathered from the collectibles takes a little more time, but beyond that, the game is very straight forward. I believe that is by design, though. Each typeface can be selected from a “hub” after the game has been completed, so that allows for this game to be used to teach students in a unique way. I can see a teacher pulling this game up on a projector and playing it as the student marvel at the art and typography presented to them. Perhaps the developers are onto something when it comes to using video games for interactive education.