Capybara Games’ Super Time Force started out as an experiment, and frankly, it’s stayed that way. It’s weird, and it focuses on fresh ideas over polish. That said, as the game nears release, it’s carved out a compelling structure to go along with all that originality and charm.

What it is: XBLA project Super Time Force is the latest from Capy, most known for games like Sword & Sworcery, Critter Crunch and Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. You traverse levels over and over again, fighting with copies of your past selves to take down foes in time limits that would be simply impossible otherwise. The challenge is in picking the right crew, and “saving” past selves to get more lives.

Why we’re excited: The gameplay loop is compelling: any progress, no matter how little, is great. You go from “we just need to get through this door” to “we just need to take down these helicopters.” Development time has brought with it an extra layer of strategy: players can choose to rewind at any time to any previous moment, and not just after death. (The key: don’t rewind too far if you can’t get back; you can’t go forward or escape your current unit’s lifetime.) All along, it’s the ’80s style that carries it. For example: one of your squad? A dinosaur wearing sunglasses.

What we’re wondering: How does the game progress? The few levels we’ve played are interesting and varied, but not every game can keep that up for a full campaign. Still, though: in Capy’s hands, we’re not too worried.

Super Time Force is slated for release on XBLA sometime. Soon, maybe?