Red Trigger

Red Trigger is a first-person puzzle game inspired by Portal, Antichamber, Superliminal and The Witness while building its own distinct identity around a single elegant mechanic. The core idea is shooting Red Trigger blocks — when shot, they expand into platforms or barriers; shot again, they retract. The catch is that you can only have three Red Triggers expanded at any given moment, which makes resource management the central strategic question of every puzzle.

The Red Triggers serve many different functions across the levels. Make platforms to cross gaps. Block lasers. Hold doors open. Power computer systems. Propel yourself through the environment. Input codes by extending blocks in specific configurations. The puzzles steadily layer these uses on top of each other, asking you to juggle the three-expansion limit creatively while figuring out which block does what. Retracting Red Triggers can be done one at a time or all at once — but doing it all at once while standing on an expanded block over a deep void is exactly as catastrophic as it sounds.

You play as a computer virus called Red Trigger, infiltrating and corrupting a system you're navigating from the inside. After the main puzzles, an escape sequence sends you racing back to safety as the system crumbles around you. The original final-student project version of the game won the Choice of the Industry prize at ImagiNAD 2016 and Best Indie Game 2016 from Waiting4Players. The current 2023 remake was rebuilt from scratch by a team of more than 15 people, runs 40 minutes to an hour-plus, and the studio is currently developing the much larger Red Trigger 2 sequel.