Cryptigma

[b]8.5/10[/b] Well-designed puzzles around a surprisingly deep re-spawn mechanic. Implementation is a little rough around the edges and difficulty is all over the place, but what should you expect from a game built entirely by a fourteen-year-old in between school days. It is our responsibility as puzzlers to usher in the next generation by enjoying this game. [b]What is it:[/b] Imagine you are at work block-pushing like any other day when you die (as expected) and three more of you respawn. Or you die (totally part of the job description) and you restart the puzzle from a different location! The thought of manipulating your spawn point to solve a puzzle is enough for my brain to get all giddy about the deviously delicious puzzles in store. This game takes it even deeper. Spawn points that follow a specific order, spawn points that only react to certain conditions, even spawn points that only activate after you can’t die….normally. Yea, this game introduces a new concept of dying. But probably my favorite thing about this game is how well-designed yet “crunchy” the levels are. I can tell the person (ahem, kid) has either played tons of sokoban games or just has a natural gift for design as the puzzle solving experience in this game is akin to something I mostly expect in games made by juggernauts of the industry. Yet, I can still see the crunchy youth of the dev in how the puzzles are implemented. Where I would typically see elegance, the dev uses the mechanics to create some wonky puzzles that screamed this dood was cooking. There is a level that comes to mind where the layout and its solution involved so many ideas and steps that I could tell the dev had all cylinders on fire when creating it and when he was done, he just pressed upload and walked away. Yet it was still so satisfying to solve! After experiencing what this kid can cook at fourteen, the elegance that naturally comes with age gets me excited for his future projects. [b]How hard is it:[/b] pretty hard, ★★★★☆. [b]How long is it:[/b] around 120 levels, took me 30 hours to 99%. Still one level that my brain can’t “see” the solution for. You only need to solve a certain number to move to the next world. [b]Level design:[/b] Great level design. 30 hrs of playtime means the levels were hard enough to require a lot of thinking and experimentation in and out of the game. The difficulty was mostly consistent but there were some levels that felt out of place. There was one section where it was clear the dev was trying to shoehorn a tutorial for another gimmick into a level, but I found out that gimmick was only used for one other level. It seemed like a lot of work for little pay-off. I have talked to the dev about it and patches are in the works. [b]Quality:[/b] Undo even after resets. Level select is done by moving throughout an overworld but no meta-puzzles..shucks. Controls are wonky and not re-bindable - I use Steam overlay. Settings are super basic too (remember how I said he’s a kid). Your standard volume sliders. The controller works only while playing the game - you need to use a mouse to navigate the menu. Also, the controller is not very responsive and the game itself doesn’t respond to outside programs like OBS Studio well. I have to quit and restart the game on occasion before it's recognized. Just more evidence of how much I suffered for those darn good puzzles. And…no achievements so no one knows how cool I actually am. [b]Worth the price:[/b] Yes. 30 hrs of gameplay and supporting who could be our niche genre’s youngest dev ever is worth the asking price. [b]Most positive aspect for me:[/b] Supporting young blood. [b]Most negative aspect for me:[/b] Overall QOL. However, everything, I mean literally everything I have brought up to the dev (due to his age, I am communicating via his dad) has been addressed or is promised to be addressed. AWESOME! [b]What would make it better:[/b] Fine-tuning the joystick to function as accurately as the D-pad would make me happy. No idea how one would do this or how much work it takes. I’ve kind of given up on expecting customizable controls - not because devs aren’t doing it, only that steam overlay works so well that I don’t need it. I don’t know if this is a good thing tho. Are devs aware of this and therefore don’t put in effort here? [b]Also consider:[/b] I know there are other puzzle games that use the idea of killing yourself to solve a puzzle i.e. jumping on your dead body, but none of them kept my attention. The re-spawn aspect of this game is really where it shines above the rest. Sorry, not really telling you other options to consider, just advertising this game even more. [quote]For more puzzle game reviews, news and everything puzzle-related, follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/25928931-Puzzle-Lovers/]Puzzle Lovers[/url] and check out our [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/puzzlelovers]Steam group[/url].[/quote]

The mechanics are intuitive but leave plenty of room for creative play. A rare game that leaves you feeling relaxed and inspired. A must-play for fans of indie games and escapism.

Surprisingly quite good level design. The game does have some presentation issues. Some quick animations would help sell a lot of the things in the game. I also found some of the metaphors hard to follow, swamp water kills you but regular water doesn't? Might make more sense if the swamp water was magma or fire or something. EDIT: The following is no longer true, as the developer has addressed this complaint and restarts are now undo-able. [strike]The biggest complaint I had with the game as it currently is, is that restarting is not undo-able. The game seems to just unwind the undo stack completely when you press reset, but the correct implementation is to add the initial state of the puzzle as a new state to the end of the undo stack. This is a pretty standard expectation for the genre at this point. It's possible there's some technical reason later on that restarts are not undo-able, but I didn't get far enough to see such a thing, and lost progress a few times because I just wanted to examine the initial state of the puzzle again.[/strike]

The game is well done and has a bunch of brain wrapping puzzles. I love the tug of war between them teaching you how to solve a level then completely flipping it on you. Feels more like a constant battle of wits between the creator and your will to overcome a level. The levels are well made and keep you in a constant loop of wanting more or throwing in the towel. The a-ha moments keep you going till you get stumped and spend some time on the level.