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[i]Couch Installation Service[/i] is a couch-pushing Sokoban with a twist, which is that as you try to push (never pull) couches, they twist around their centerpoint and end up on a diagonal, rather than sliding as a rigid structure along an orderly square grid. (Hope that makes sense, see the trailer if not.) The twisty-diagonalization of couches off of an orderly grid means 2 things for gameplay: (1) it costs extra steps to get couches "out of the way," and (2) it costs extra steps to re-align couches onto an orderly grid. And your goal on every level is to get 1-4 couches squared away into a specific spot on the (implicit) grid. You get a gold star if you can do it in a minimal number of steps, but you don't need gold stars to proceeed with the game.
The slick UI, simple controls, and colorful (even [i]cheerful[/i]) graphics -- plus the small size of each level -- all invite you to ask, with a bit of smugness: "How hard could it be?" For my part, [b]I found [i]Couch Installation Service[/i] to be remarkably difficult[/b]. YMMV, but I found it very challenging (and rewarding, when it clicked) to wrap my head around how to work with/around diagonals. Even if you don't aim to optimize your stepcount on every level, it's still a real challenge just to complete many levels.
There are 35 levels in total. After about 30 minutes of gameplay I had beaten 11 levels, and had pretty easily scored "gold" on 5 of them. I was feeling pretty good. Then I spent a fruitless ~20 minutes alternating between trying to beat the 12th level, and trying up improve my score on any earlier level, tearing my hair out the whole time. Then I ragequit and abandoned the game for several weeks. Then I came back and repeated the same agonizing process for another 30m before finally beating level 12 and deciding that a review couldn't wait for me to feel like an expert Couch Installation-er. That day may never come.
[b]Levels unlock in sequence[/b] with bottlenecks: so if you get stuck you might really be [i]stuck[/i]. But the in-game "About" menu provides a link to a [b]full set of walkthrough videos[/b] (and there's also a Steam Guide with exact keypresses), so unless you're a masochist who forces themselves to endure the pain ([i]hi![/i]), you can always progress. Your "target" stepcount is displayed prominently, and your steps are counted as you go. You have [b]unlimited undo and pressing R quickly resets a level[/b]. I do think that forcing the player through levels in sequence could be dropped without loss -- settings could offer a toggle to open the game up -- but sadly the solo Dev doesn't seem to be monitoring the Steam forums or their email.
While the design is pretty polished, there are [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/1412610/discussions/0/3046108212595997454/]some quality of life issues[/url] two of which are especially notable. (1) A lack of sliders for either SFX or music, only mutes for each. (The couches make a grindy-slidey noise every time you move them, so that might be an insta-mute either way, but the music is vaguely pleasant). And (2), as you play a level there's an odd oscillation/float effect that occurs as the whole board gently sways. You can see it in the trailer. It's not super irritating, but the fact that there is no toggle to turn it off [i]is[/i] a little irritating.
Controls are [b]Mouse only in menus, but Keyboard only in-game with no rebinding[/b], but both AWSD and arrow keys work for movement. Pressing the F key quickly toggles between fullscreen and windowed. While the game does report your time-to-completion when you finish a level, there is no ticking timer during gameplay (only a step counter) and AFAIK time-to-completion doesn't matter. There's only one save file at a time, which you can reset, but you can always revisit old levels.
Overall, (quality of life issues notwithstanding) the price point is very reasonable, design is pretty polished and solid, and [i][b]IF[/b][/i] you like challenging Sokobans it's a great pickup. I'd put the quality/challenge of gameplay maybe one small step down from [i][url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198014473461/recommended/721390/]Pipe Push Paradise[/url][/i], or [i][url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198014473461/recommended/1270390/]The Golem[/url][/i] -- though it might be shorter than either of those, if you're quicker than me in picking up the mechanics.
