Bomb Club Deluxe

[quote]A review copy was provided by the developer.[/quote] [quote]Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews,[/url] so you can be updated whenever I post a new review.[/quote] [h1]Overall Rating - Exceptional ★★★★★[/h1] [h1]First Impressions[/h1] Every once in a while, I get into the mood for a puzzle game, but it can be one of those genres that are difficult to judge without trying it for yourself. Some puzzles make sense in my mind's logic, and others throw me so far off I get totally lost. That's why I hesitated for so long before taking a review key for Bomb Club Deluxe (BCD), but it turns out to be more along the lines of puzzles that my mind understands. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] The main purpose for each puzzle in BCD is to use explosives to reach a certain objective, but no matter the goal, every bomb on the field must either be set off or dealt with. If you destroy most bombs, but left an isolated one in the corner doing nothing, that'd be a failure. Sometimes you're required to utilize every single bomb provided, set off a certain number of painted bombs, or hit the mega bomb enough times that it explodes. In one level type, you're presented with a premise that gets harder across three stages, needing to solve all versions to get the gold medal. As you explore the overworld map, you'll come across a wide range of different bombs (and hats), each of which has a story segment and tutorial explaining how it functions. Then you'll have a handful of levels focusing on this new mechanic, allowing you to see ways that it can be incorporated into the game's framework. Discovering bomb types, clearing enough levels, and earning gold medals will be needed in order to open gates barring you from proceeding onward, with the ultimate goal being to penetrate the castle and clear all the bombs within. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3596821811 [h1]Controls[/h1] Because this puzzle title revolves around placing bombs on a grid, I didn't think anything about using my mouse when trying to work out all the puzzles. Zooming in and out with the scroll wheel also made it easier to navigate the overworld, as I found the puzzles to be at the right size by default. If anything, sometimes setting off the first bomb felt a little off, especially if it was placed behind another one. That was the biggest issue I ever ran into though, so I have no serious complaints with how the game handles. [h1]Story[/h1] Across all the puzzles to solve, the occasional interactions with the characters really develops their personalities and quirks. They don't feel one-dimensional or bland, and since you can't distinguish what they actually look like, it limits the stereotypes you could imprint on any given person's appearance, “Oh, that's the nerd, so I should expect them to be awkward and quiet.” Despite not seeing anyone's face, I still developed an interest and sense for what they were all like, curious to see what would come of the bomb club. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3596820681 [h1]Visuals[/h1] Puzzle games tend to have a trend where there aren't many screens or visuals involved, and that's mostly true in this case as well. Even with an emphasis on a story, there's minimal backgrounds or settings involved, as the characters pop in and out of a void as needed. The bombs are placed on various types of ground, which are set to match the location. IE, when you're at the beach, the ground is sandy, the graveyard makes use of darker shades for the grass, and so on. Overall, there could have been a bit more effort placed into immersing the player into the characters' location, fleshing out what their town is like. However, I do like the designs used for the bombs, which do a good job of distinguishing between their various effects. [h1]Sound Design[/h1] A simple complaint I have is that the music never changes throughout all the areas you go in the game. With so many level packs I wouldn't necessarily need each one to have a unique track, although that might have been a nice touch. However, I'd still expect the background music for the beach to sound significantly different than what's playing in the graveyard. Since there isn't much inclusion of those elements in the setting, this could have provided that touch instead. Either way, I do like the celebratory tune from beating a level, and seeing whether I earned a full gold medal or not. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3596821374 [h1]Pros[/h1] 🌟 Puzzles only start getting really tricky towards the latter half, which is what I'd expect from a difficulty curve. They should be more difficult to figure out. 🌟 Not many puzzle games have a story that's worthwhile, let alone a plot with such fun characters. 🌟 It didn't feel like it took so long to play BCD as my playtime shows. [h1]Cons[/h1] ❌ Story-wise, it's funny how much emphasis comes from the bombs getting into public, but it makes little difference on the imagery or mechanics. You still blow the bombs up anyways! ❌ If one bomb is behind another, it can be a pain setting that bomb off first. [h1]Tips[/h1] 🔍 It never hurts to set off a bomb to see how it interacts with other types and combinations. They may not function together as you expected, especially between what you see, and the effects. I remember seeing a flame not hit something, but still triggering the target. 🔍 You might need to double check all the specific properties of a given bomb or hat. For example, I was getting mixed up on how the beach ball bombs worked, getting what they did exactly backwards at first. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] An aspect I enjoyed all throughout my playthrough was the sense of presentation for BCD. I liked how often you'd encounter a new mechanic, the variety of puzzle types, and that you'd never get stuck for too long in any given set of puzzles. With so many branching paths and wiggle room for how many levels had to be cleared, it allows players some range of freedom on needing to solve puzzles that might stump them for a while. The characters are fun, beating each level feels like a mini-celebration, and it provides plenty of energy for coming back to clear another chapter or chunk of levels before taking a break from puzzles again. Having another cluster of levels to dabble with after the main event is over feels like a bonus, especially with the asking price for this title. This was a blast to play, and I'd gladly welcome another set of puzzles like this from the developers, so I highly recommend the game. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote] [table] [tr] [th]PC Specs[/th] [th]Performance[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Ryzen 2700 RTX 2070 16GB RAM ADATA SSD 1920x1080 [/td] [td]The game ran without incident on default settings. 💖 - BCD is healthy [/td] [/tr] [/table]

Enough has been said about what the game is like, so as someone who comes from the mobile version, this review will focus on the differences found in this PC version. It not only includes all 4 bonus level packs that are paid DLCs on the mobile version, it also adds a completely new short bonus campaign that includes the bombs and hats found in bonus levels. Apart from that, the 'triple trouble' level format has been changed: there is no longer a time limit which you would have to complete the 3 successive scenarios in like the mobile version. Instead, whenever you beat a scenario you will be asked if you want to continue to the next one or leave the level with your current score. You are allowed all the time you need to solve each of the scenarios, though if you choose to exit the level, you would have to start from the 1st scenario again when you replay it. Last but not least, a few QOL options have been added such as a toggle fastforward instead of hold and instantly appearing text instead of the 'typewriter effect'. Anyway, I've sunk 20 hours into this Steam version and still have around 40 levels left to beat (all bonus ones), and that's despite having beaten all the main campaign levels and 1 bonus level pack in the mobile version, so I would taken even more time if this were my first playthrough. It just shows you how much content there is. One of my favourite puzzle games ever!

Immensely enjoyable puzzle game that explores a lot of unique and interesting ideas within its concept, the only one of which I did not like being the last hat in the game which is strictly because it has a lot of unintuitive interactions (that, to be fair, are never required for any puzzles, so it's more of a personal issue than a design problem). It's very easy without going for the optional objectives but conversely quite challenging if you do go for the optional objectives and immensely satisfying to watch the full successful bomb chain when you do get the solution. A solid 9/10.

[h1]The perfect puzzle game doesn't exis-[/h1] I mean, really. What can I complain here? I guess the levels after the main campaign boss fight kind of go steeper on the difficulty, as expected. But if you're not aiming for gold medals, that isn't an issue. All I can say are praises: great visuals, funny plot and dialogue, good soundtrack... So many levels and puzzle pieces for such a cheap game, and [b]they've nailed the learning curve[/b]. [spoiler]Thanks for the gift, X71![/spoiler]

I have no idea how this game isn't more popular. It's a really, really fun puzzler with a fantastic artstyle, really polished UI and very funny story to bring everything together. The sheer amount of game modes, bombs and hats adds a lot of depth to the game, and the rate at which you unlock elements is nice. It admittedly starts off pretty easy (coming from Baba Is You, Cosmic Express or any Zachtronics game), but once you get past the Garden gate, going for the golden medals becomes fairly challenging! An overall awesome puzzler! Blake my beloved

After finishing the game and getting a gold medal in almost every level I think I can give my opinion. You can see by my play time ( minus about 10 hrs when I paused the game - more about that later ) that I like the game but the game has some negative elements, some minor and a few major ones. Let's start with some major flaws, I don't like when the bonus content is locked, so you will have to finish most of 160 main levels to unlock the bonus levels. Now that wouldn't be a problem if the main story levels were harder, most of them are casual and I really wanted a challenge so I went for a platinum trophy in every level. Platinum trophy is earned by detonating all the bombs + detonating 2 rockets, there are some other type of levels but they are in minority. I really wanted to quit the game because I was bored but I wanted to play harder levels. I am a very patient person and I am glad I got to harder levels because some of them are complex. The other thing I really didn't like that there were timed levels, I don't like a timer when I play puzzlers but that isn't a real issue here. When you get to boss battles or some other similar levels that are very long you can't quit and pick up where you left the game. You will have to start all over again if you quit during many stages in boss fights. That is the reason why I paused the game and went shopping etc ;) I didn't like that you have so many types of bombs and hats, good thing that there is a book with basic info on what a bomb/hat does. The music is awful, one upbeat track through out the whole game, I turned it off. Story was boring, too much meaningless and boring dialogue. You might think these things are enough to ruin a game but this is a really a polished game with some really good puzzles. When all these elements click you got some really good levels, bonus levels are where you really have to think and plan your moves, Some levels have a great mix many things you learned through out the game. All in all a solid puzzler that has flaws but positives outwiegh the negatives in the end.

An extremely charming game and by far the most well made puzzle game I've played all year. The puzzles start off simple and the difficulty is well paced. Map, Characters, mechanics are all well done and best of all, the dialog is actually good!

Coolos ! Merci le Jeux made in France :)

Je joue sur Linux. Version Linux : excellente. [h1]Le jeu[/h1] Ce casse-tête nous propose de faire exploser des bombes. Plein de bombes. Le but de chaque niveau est de faire exploser toutes les bombes présentes du plateau. Il y a des bombes placées à l'avance, et on a à notre disposition diverses autres qu'on peut (ou pas) placer où on veut. Pour ça, pas mal de bombes différentes, qui explosent de diverses façons: les 8 cases autour, ou bien juste 4 cases, ou encore des lignes, voire tout le plateau. Il y a aussi un tas de bombes spéciales, qui font disparaitre celles autour, ou les poussent dans une direction. Pour bien compliquer le tout, on peut leur coller des chapeaux, qui offrent des capacités spéciales: explosion en même temps que d'autres, ne pas être affecté par des déplacements, ... La montée en difficulté est progressive et les niveaux sont variés. Rien à redire là dessus, ça va du simple au plutôt complexe. Certains m'ont résisté plusieurs dizaines de minutes; tandis que d'autres sont résolu au premier coup d'oeil. Un seul dans les niveaux bonus m'a demandé un coup de pouce pour le passer en or, après être resté bloqué en argent plus d'une heure j'ai regardé comment faire. Les niveaux sont amenés avec une petite histoire présentée par 4 personnages du bomb club. C'est plutôt amusant, j'ai bien apprécié l'humour. On sent que le développeur est français, tous les dialogues font mouche. Les graphismes et la DA plutôt mignonne contrastent bien avec les bombes :). La musique est un banger, rien à dire. [h1]Rejouabilité, achievements[/h1] Il faudra terminer tous les niveaux avec un score 'or'. Il y a quelques achievements qu'on n'obtiendra pas sans vraiment tenter, du type 10 explosions à la suite. Ca reste largement faisable cela dit. [h1]En bref[/h1] Un excellent casse-tête avec des mécaniques variées. Pour ne rien gâcher, la DA loufoque est un plaisir. [h1]GNU/Linux[/h1] La version native fonctionne sans problème. A noter que les sauvegardes sur le cloud ne semblent pas fonctionner, du moins avec la version native, on ne peut donc pas reprendre sur un autre device. OS: Linux Mint 21.2, MATE edition. Hardware : 5950x, AMD RX 6900XT, 64GB ram. Screens : Dualscreen, 1x 4K & 1x 1920x1200, un seul screen X.

Bought this after trying the Fakutori demo and I'm so glad I did. The characters are delightful and charming, the bomb mechanics are surprisingly innovative and used very well (especially bombs that move themselves or other bombs), and the levels while sometimes easy to solve never feel tedious. I'm really looking forwards to seeing the difficulty ramp up as the game goes on!