[b]june 2023 edit:[/b] some fixes and quality of life improvements happened, edited parts of the review.
[b]abridge[/b] is a minimalist sokoban. push blocks with symbols around with the goal of getting rid of them all by shoving them through a black hole kinda thing.
[b]93 levels[/b] divided into 11 sets. solving only a few (or half at most) is enough to open the rest and the next batch, very generous. sometimes those few are unlocked one by one, other times the whole set is at your disposal. the first couple levels of a pack are dead easy, the rest not so much, and I assume most or all of them are necessary for the final pack, I didn't get that far.
[b]no timer or move limit[/b] but there's an optional move counter and [b]lots of stats[/b], including the number of steps, undos and resets, completion times, etc. neat if you're into data. an [b]optional tutorial[/b] shows basic controls.
[b]symbols represent abilities[/b], they aren't just for show. everybody can push multiple blocks, but ones with a triangle/arrow only move in one direction, squares in cardinal directions, diamonds diagonally, circles also in the four main directions and are sticky and can push and pull. corrupt blocks are interesting, they leave a trail of blocks behind. mirrored ones are annoying (for me anyway), as they unsurprisingly mirror each other's movement. 'x' blocks, much like myself, are lazy bastards and don't move unless pushed.
[b]controls aren't rebindable.[/b] the mouse is needed to select/deselect pieces but doesn't move them. [b]I think 100% mouse controls would work just fine[/b], click to select and move and/or drag. wasd/arrows move instead and there are diagonal alternatives if you don't want to press two keys at the same time. 'u' and backspace are undo, though in this case, with both kb+m necessary, another one closer to wasd would be nice. they can be held to take back more steps. controller is also supported.
there's a key for reset and leaving the level but [b]can't simply pause the game[/b]. since it's all turn-based and completion time is only for pointless stats, it's not a dealbreaker, but there should still be a pause menu. reset and exit can be set to be instant or held to avoid accidents, but instant exit should still have a confirmation pop-up. menu navigation works with keyboard or mouse (and I assume controller).
clean presentation with a nice selection of background music, but [b]graphics can glitch out after reset or undo[/b], white tiles turn grey or red with symbols intact, or completely black, the latter makes puzzling unintentionally difficult. these hopefully got fixed in v1.5. [b]settings are plentiful but also lacking.[/b] the former is what I like to see even in a relatively simple and minimalist game like this, the latter is what I usually get.
resolutions, windowed mode, v-sync, but only separate sound and music toggles, [b]no volume settings, yet unity volume setting tools are in the credits, wtf?[/b] toggles not mentioned already are for camera shake, backgrounds and the entire level complete screen, which is off by default for some reason. would be nice to have a 3rd, static setting for backgrounds, not just 'off' or 'on and constantly moving'. and unfortunately, settings aren't available while playing a level.
I predictably got stuck embarrassinly early on, but the way levels unlock, I could progress and go back when I realized what I'd missed on level 3 (three!). that's not to say I managed a whole lot of the rest, but I still played what I was capable of (unlocked 10 packs and completed more than half of the levels), only to find out the closing credits are unskippable. then I was told they aren't, just too finicky to skip easily.
it would be pretty good stuff, but with all these issues [b]it's barely recommendable and only on sale[/b], as long as you like less trivial sokobans with a twist. hopefully the developer will put in extra work to sort out at least some of the annoyances and provide a better overall experience. also, it works on win7, despite the store page minimum of win10.
