[b]cardinal chains[/b] is a simple 'draw a single line' puzzler that involves numbers. starting from the 'x', you have to cover every numbered cell in increasing order. multiple cells with the same number are fine, but once you select a higher one, the next can only be the same or even higher. [b]the only difference in later levels is multiple starting points[/b], so yeah, very simple.
[b]501 levels[/b] should still keep you busy for a while, and if you get stuck, there's an [b]official solution book[/b] linked in the forum and as the manual on the store page. [b]no timer, fail states or anything[/b], no undo either, only a level reset button. it's okay though, as you can unselect cells easily. [b]difficulty is really uneven and many levels feel like filler[/b]. you'll breeze through the first few dozen, then there might be a trickier one, then a bunch more that are trivial, and so on. another way to look at it is after a tougher puzzle (which is very much subjective anyway) you can cool down a bit.
[b]controls are mouse-only and work as they should.[/b] click and hold to select cells, go back on your selection if you have to, or click any selected cell to clear ones after that point. or you can turn on [b]auto mouse dragging[/b], that way you only need to click the starting and end points and just move the mouse around without having to hold a button.
[b]the presentation is slick, the music is smooth and there's lots of it[/b] (I actually kept the game running while I was writing this review). I would like a skip track button or even more control over the soundtrack, but separate volume settings, windowed mode, resolutions are available, and you can set how big cells can get as well: keep them small no matter what, or go big if screen space allows. [b]various color themes, including colorblind ones[/b], are also available, and you can determine how often they should change, if at all, or make your own custom themes. I quickly changed things to [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2595529514]roughly resemble the c64[/url], then the game introduced multiple starting points with all sorts of colors. oh well...
[b]the only negative I found, and it's a big one, is the lack of a level select screen.[/b] gotta click up/down arrows until your fingers fall off. pressing and holding said arrows to move faster works, but come on, [b]you already let people turn that functionality off, do you you think they'll be happy about still having to do it just to go back to an earlier level far away?[/b] the next level doesn't load automatically either, gotta click once, which is my preferred way. this way solutions can be admired instead of immediately moving on to new pastures.
as a fan of line-drawing puzzlers (and not a fan of number games in general), I found this pretty good and done really well for the most part, except that major accessibility issue, of course. then again, it's as simple as games can get, and [b]it'll get repetitive way before it's over[/b] (or even halfway over). still, it's [b]relaxing enough[/b] and there's plenty of it for a low price, so why not give it a shot sometime? there's a [b]demo to try[/b] as well.
