GamesPuzzleSurreal platformer Screenbound has you platforming in 2D and 3D simultaneously with the help of a magical little Game Boy you’re constantly holding up to your face like the world’s most indoor kidWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

GamesPuzzleSurreal platformer Screenbound has you platforming in 2D and 3D simultaneously with the help of a magical little Game Boy you’re constantly holding up to your face like the world’s most indoor kidWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

I spent an embarrassing amount of my childhood glued to Nintendo’s Game Boy consoles, and as good as the games were, the hardware is what still has this grip on my psyche: they were these wonderfully designed little toys you just didn’t want to put down. As shown off in the PC Gaming Show, surreal dual-screen platformerScreenboundtakes advantage of that sense of magic to help deliver an unprecedented blend of 2D and 3D platforming.

Essentially, you’re exploring a full 3D world in first person while holding a Game Boy with the serial numbers filed off right in front of your face the whole time like a poorly adjusted kid on holiday. Your actions in the 3D world will influence what you see in a 2D side scrolling platformer on the handheld screen and vice versa, with any jumping or other movement being mirrored in both views simultaneously.

Image1of4(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

Image1of4(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

Image1of4

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

Screenbound gameplay with game boy held up to screen showing 2d platformer in foreground, 3d in background

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

Screenbound gameplay with game boy held up to screen showing 2d platformer in foreground, 3d in background

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

Screenbound gameplay with game boy held up to screen showing 2d platformer in foreground, 3d in background

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

(Image credit: Crescent Moon Games)

Screenbound gameplay with game boy held up to screen showing 2d platformer in foreground, 3d in background

I’m an absolute sucker for rendering tricks like this, especially when a developer commits to them as a full-on backbone of their game⁠—see also the indie FPSHellscreen, where you can see backwards and forwards at the same time, with combat and puzzle solving incentives to always be checking your rear view mirror.

That kind of creative design would already be enough to win me over, but the skillful evocation of the Game Boy line’s hardware magic is prodding the nostalgia lizard part of my brain so hard I want to finally tackle the repair job on my childhood GBA SP I’ve been putting off. The hollowclackof a cartridge getting slapped into the machine at the beginning of the trailer is exactly like the one you’d hear from a real DMG (the original model from 1989), while the screenshots make it look like there are alternate handhelds you can unlock in the game.

There’s a dead ringer for the folding clamshell SP visible in one of Screenbound’s Steam screenshots, but I think the one that tickled my fancy the most is the game’s riff on the legendary, transparent, “Atomic Purple” Game Boys. Screenbound’s version has this almost electric transparency like the console’s made of force field or something, with hardly any electronics visible inside and your character’s hands showing clear through the plastic.

We don’t yet know a ton about Screenbound aside from its look and premise, but the concept has tons of promise for creative puzzle solving and exploration. Developer Crescent Moon Games is targeting a 2025 release window for the game, and you can wishlist Screenbound onSteamto stay up to date.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

More about puzzleToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planetLatestEpic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’See more latest►

More about puzzleToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planetLatestEpic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’See more latest►

More about puzzleToday’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planet

More about puzzle

Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planet

Today’s Wordle being played on a phone

Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10

Today’s Wordle answer for Friday, January 10

A map of an alien planet

Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planet

Track down a missing person in this ‘Geoguessr-inspired detective game’ set on an alien planet

LatestEpic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’See more latest►

Latest

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’

Tim Sweeney

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’

See more latest►

Most PopularTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ itMSI intros cheaper ‘back connect’ Project Zero Intel motherboards for super-clean PC builds you might actually be able to affordThermaltake’s new 2000 W PSU is too powerful to be sold in the USA and comes with four PCIe 5.0 GPU power connectorsAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage

Most PopularTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ itMSI intros cheaper ‘back connect’ Project Zero Intel motherboards for super-clean PC builds you might actually be able to affordThermaltake’s new 2000 W PSU is too powerful to be sold in the USA and comes with four PCIe 5.0 GPU power connectorsAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage

Most PopularTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ itMSI intros cheaper ‘back connect’ Project Zero Intel motherboards for super-clean PC builds you might actually be able to affordThermaltake’s new 2000 W PSU is too powerful to be sold in the USA and comes with four PCIe 5.0 GPU power connectorsAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage

Most Popular

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40K

Is the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything

If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off

AMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fab

I tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bay

Final Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their alts

TikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it

MSI intros cheaper ‘back connect’ Project Zero Intel motherboards for super-clean PC builds you might actually be able to afford

Thermaltake’s new 2000 W PSU is too powerful to be sold in the USA and comes with four PCIe 5.0 GPU power connectors

AMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

1

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

2

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

3

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

4

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

5

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

1

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

2

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

3

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

4

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

5

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review