Dimhaven - The Lost Source

Short, but fun

Top tier puzzle game. A fair number of the puzzles have more than one layer to them as if the person who made them was trying to hide the answer a bit. Like leaving a password for a friend which follows the story. It makes solving the puzzles more rewarding than other puzzle games. The puzzles fit along with the location well. The ending from a story standpoint doesn't give you much but overall the story does add something to the experience. Its a puzzle game with a bit extra. Joy to play just like the old Myst games.

An amazing game ! Great story, gameplay and soundtrack ! Both Quern and Dimhaven are masterpieces

A fun cozy first person puzzle game clocking in around 8 - 12 hours, depending on your playspeed. The game is somewhat linear, with several locations following seamlessly after one another. The puzzles in each location are well-crafted, for the most part, and build upon each other, so there is usually not a lot of confusion which puzzles to tackle next. If confusion does arise, there is a gradual and contextual hint system, as usually you just need to be pointed in the right direction. I was stumped only twice, once by a hearing-based puzzle that was a detour from the game's usual, albeit varied, visual puzzle design. And once by the location barriers, actually, because after you've accepted closed gates, knee-high obstacles and straight up invisible walls as level constraints, you don't expect some of them to provide a prompt to simply open. Aside from that I found all puzzles to be somewhat challenging and entertainingly crafted. Our protagonist has a handy instant camera and photo album including markers for notes and scribbles, which is a great and immersive quality of life helper. She can even hold up single photos so you have constant reference. On that note, it would have been nice if the album would open on the last page after loading a game; scrolling through fifteen pages of photos every time does get a bit tedious if you don't have the time to play in several longer sittings. The story is a serviceable mystery plot, aided by some environmental storytelling, but not the main focus of the game and thus nothing to write home about. But that is hardly a problem considering that the game delivers on its main gameplay loop.

The game has it's good points and some really bad points. Almost all the puzzle encounters in the game, begin when nothing happens after interacting with it. Push a button, nothing happens. Flick a switch, nothing happens, Pull a lever Nothing happens. Door knob, It's locked. That is the experience of the puzzle design of Dimhaven. Nothing happens when you try things out. It is not like Myst or Riven where you manipulate levers to progress through a game. It makes for an unsatisfying experience to explore a world when things do nothing. Instead, this games puzzle design is all about taking pictures and comparing your pictures with things in the world. You then have use a notepad or draw on your own pictures with diagrams and numbers to order things around. I would consider this an extremely difficult and awkward form of puzzle design. Almost maddening difficulty for me. The puzzle near the end was so difficult I could not figure out the picture myself. It was possible to be just a percentage point off the final solution. Maddening. I had to look up a walkthrough to finish the game. Frustratingly awkward. It was less Eureka and more 'finally' when figuring out things. looking at pictures over and over again got old. I also accidentally took pictures many times and needed to delete them. Awkward controls with inventory and getting things to work in the world. Click and drag mechanics with levers, not a good sign in any puzzle game. Some puzzles had some extremely awkward manipulations just to enter numbers. Frustrating and Challenging is my main summarization of Dimhaven. For puzzle lovers enjoy. Good things. I like the look of the game. Interesting world. It went with a pleasant art aesthetic of pixelated simple graphics in 3D that I liked. The music and audio was also nice. The game is also rather short. Not many puzzles in total but they are very plumbing overworked and difficult. I spent probably too much time on some of them. Again I was unable to get the final puzzle. I'm going to give the game a like because I finished it rather than bailing completely.

Fun and complex puzzles, definitely worth a play

Great game, No hand holding at all lol. Still, great game with a great story. Will make you feel like you accomplish something when you solved a puzzle.