Supertype Focuses on the Weight and Sound of Letters-Aesthetic

Visually, Supertype has a unique and textured aesthetic style that makes it stand out from the crowd. The game is rendered completely in 2D, but features a textured background like canvases and wallpapers. The lines, shapes, and letters in each stage appear as if they’re inked on the paper, which I love. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as watching ink get absorbed into quality paper, and Supertype brings back those memories for me. Each stage is distinctive, and the sans serif typeface that the game uses is beautiful. Sans serif fonts with straight edges is my preferred kind of typography, so seeing it everywhere in Supertype made me happy. There’s no base soundtrack to the game, but the sound effects as letters move around and hit other objects generates a one-of-a-kind soundtrack that’ll be different for everyone. Supertype proves that sometimes, less is more.

Like many other puzzle games, Supertype is level-based. The game launches and places a puzzle in front of you, and gives you another once you solve it — rinse and repeat. The goal of Supertype is straightforward: have the letters touch all of the small squares together. You can tap on the “Home” button in the bottom left corner to reset a puzzle or go back to the level select screen.

While this sounds easy enough, it gets pretty tricky. You have to think about how certain letters fall, how much they weigh, and even how they sound. On every level, there are different shapes and objects laid out, and the squares you want are scattered about.

Controls in Supertype are intuitive and friendly enough for everyone. Tap on the screen to bring up the keyboard, and then type in some letters — it doesn’t even have to be a real word, and you don’t need to take up all of the indicated spaces. Just tap on the checkmark button on the keyboard and watch gravity do its thing. Other times, there are already letters put on the screen, and you must draw a line with your finger (not over the letters) to guide them to the squares. Sometimes there are fans that push letters up, and other objects that can affect where your letters go, so think about your letter choice and make use of them.

When you go back to the level selection screen, you can view completed stages with the letters you used, and you can also attempt the next few stages ahead of you, as a few get unlocked at a time. The game has over 100 puzzles, so there’s some good bang for your buck here.