Circuit: Laser Maze

This is not a game for the weak or easily intimidated. It's challenging... It'll make you think and work for progress. So you're not gonna beat it in a weekend or anything. But you'll enjoy trying. The graphics are solid, too.

Circuit Laser Maze is a puzzle game in which you link the colored lasers to their respective goals. Even if the objective appears to be simple, the solution is frequently rather difficult. Your task is to place various modules on the playing grid. The game's concepts are explained in a straightforward tutorial that doesn't overwhelm you with too much information at once and covers everything you need to know in the first ten stages. Modules can be moved around and turned with a mouse to point the laser in the desired direction. The laser is bounced either straight or at an angle using two main modules. This does not, however, imply that you are constrained by the direction the laser is facing. Part of a module may be rotated both clockwise and counterclockwise, as well as up and down. The camera works, although there is one tiny nitpick. Moving around is more like flying a spaceship, in that you must press a key to move up and down. I would have preferred a free-flying camera where pressing forward moves you towards the spot you're presently aiming at, or perhaps a mouse wheel option to change elevation. But that’s just personal preference. There are more than 60 puzzles separated across several themes, including vertical and separation, but it doesn't matter because you'll always be dealing with the same module types. The good thing is that once you've completed the tutorial, you can choose any puzzle you want. You won't get stuck because of a difficult level this way. The most common situation you'll face is a weak laser. This occurs when the laser passes through dividers, which split it into two weaker parts. Often, you'll find the ideal placement, just to discover that the laser isn't powerful enough to reach the end. You can usually solve it by swapping a few pieces. Each stage has gems for an added challenge. It’s usually more difficult to get the laser to hit them than it is to complete a stage. A lot of times it’s just floating at a spot and you’re wondering how to even get the laser up there. However, you only have to collect a gem once. The gems can then be used as hints; a white circle appears on the grid and indicates where a module should be placed. I like how hints don't automatically solve the challenge. This gives you a sense of accomplishment when you finish the puzzles because you still have to figure out which module goes with which circle and also turn them in the correct direction. Once a hint is activated, it stays on forever. This can cause a problem in stages where you need to place modules to active something, and then place them in a different setting to finish the puzzle. You might end up with more white circles on the ground than there are modules. This doesn't help you at all. Because there's an achievement for using all hints and one for no-hint runs, achievement hunters are required to play the entire game at least twice. A couple of speedrun achievements, which are related to total play time that keep going even when the game is paused, are another bunch that will remain locked for me. Despite my initial impression that this was a difficult game, I kept playing. Although I began to rely on hints very early on, the joy of completing the puzzle remained. It's very satisfying to place that final piece and watch the whole system connect.