Pavilion – A Unique Gaming Experience on Nvidia Shield TV

The Nvidia Shield TV is a gaming powerhouse, the tiny Android console sits snug under your TV, but delivers graphical performance for Android hardware that has yet to be matched. While it’s perfectly punchy to play 3D intensive games with ease, sometimes it’s just as fun to kick back with something a little more… obscure.

Since it was announced back in 2013, we’ve been eager to get our hands on Pavilion, and now we can after its launch on Nvidia’s Shield TV last month! Much to Nvidia’s approval, as that was the only place you could play at launch, but it has now also worked its way to Steam and Humble Store.

“Pavilion is a “fourth-person puzzling adventure” that drops you into a vibrant, and richly detailed mysterious world without any guidance – there are no tutorials or “how to begin” explanations. Through exploration, observation, and interaction with the objects around your avatar, it’ll be up to you to decipher the gameplay mechanics and uncover the secrets the world hides.”

Hailing from the developers at Visiontrick Media, Pavilion is certainly a standout experience and a prime example that there’s still a warm breath of originality in the gaming market, and even more so, the mobile gaming market.

Solving puzzles in Pavilion isn’t like most modern games, where you get a little quest marker, you walk up to a thing, press a button and turn a dial and you’re done. You’ve got to scratch your head, fail, and really think about what the hell you need to do; pretty much like you would if you were left in some weird place with no idea how to get out. You listen to the audio cues, you watch the lighting, and before you know it you’ll notice patterns and clues working their way through the games landscape.

What Is A “Fourth-Person Puzzling Adventure Game”?

“Now, what exactly is a “fourth-person puzzling adventure game”? In Pavilion’s case, it’s a game in which you do not directly control the avatar. Instead, you guide and sometimes force him to explore and “fulfill the purpose of the world” by interacting with and manipulating objects you discover in the environment. Think of it almost as helping safely guide a mouse through a maze filled with puzzles and traps to its cheesy reward in the center.” – Nvidia

The whole fourth-person puzzle idea is a strange one, but for veterans of the point-and-click generation of games, as well as the isometric adventure games of the 90s, I’m looking at you Little Big Adventure! I’m sure you’ll feel right at home with this spin on the classic formulas.

While the game does have a somewhat retro vibe to it in terms of design, don’t be fooled to thinking it plays like one. The world is beautifully detailed, with lighting effects and handcrafted 2D textures that create a relaxing visual experience, and if you’re got a decent set of headphones to enjoy it on, you can easily get lost in the magic soundtrack courtesy of Tony Gerber, plus listening carefully can be helpful to the puzzles, as it’s not all about clicking things.

Eager to try Pavilion yourself? Chapter 1 is available now on the Nvidia Shield TV for £8.99, at Humber Store for £6.99, and Steam for £6.99. Chapter 2 will launch in 2017 as a DLC expansion.