What Trials of Azra is
Trials of Azra is a 2D pixel-art puzzle platformer where you play as Sam, a kid who usually spends his days drinking chocolate milk and playing with his dog, now trapped in a dark realm with necromancy powers and a strange man who claims to be his guide. You fight enemies with magic, then take control of their bodies to solve puzzles. There are more than 20 enemies to defeat and possess, over 60 rooms of puzzles, several areas with different environments, and boss fights along the way. You can upgrade your basic attack and learn new spells as you go.
How the possession loop works
Your main tool is magic. The basic projectile is always there, and other spells cost mana, so keep an eye on the blue bar. Health and mana come back from food, which sometimes sits on a table and sometimes is just lying on the floor of a room full of giant rats. Once you defeat an enemy, you can possess it and switch back and forth between it and Sam. You only control one enemy at a time, and the possession ends when that enemy dies or you take over a different one. That back-and-forth is the core of most puzzles: move Sam somewhere, hop into a body to hold a switch or clear a path, then swap back.
Playing it with friends
The game has local co-op, so a second player joins in and things generally go faster and feel more fun. The tradeoff is that there are now two people who can get killed by traps or ruin a puzzle solution, so communication matters. Remote Play Together is available if your group wants to play over a connection rather than sharing one screen in person. Full Xbox controller support is listed, which is worth knowing if you plan to play from the couch.
Before you start
Expect a rising difficulty curve. The puzzles start simple and get more complex as new content is introduced and combined with what you have already learned, so the later rooms ask for more than the early ones. Boss fights are challenging, and the game leans on both wits and reflexes. It is a good fit for a group that enjoys figuring things out together and does not mind a few deaths along the way.