Elementalist

Elementalist is a very worthwhile platforming-centric entry to the "sequencing" puzzle subgenre. The central idea of each puzzle is to deduce the correct way to collect and use a variety of platforming powerups in order to retrieve a sun fragment and then return it to the level entry portal. More often than not, the most obvious sequence is a fail state for one reason or another. The puzzles are fine-tuned, interesting, and tractable. It's clear a lot of thoughtful work went into making Elementalist's levels, which present decent challenge while still strongly grippy. With few exceptions, there is a strong feeling of groundedness in each level. It would be quite easy to make sequence puzzles that are hard solely due to convoluted setups that lack an interesting underlying idea. The developer of Elementalist, however, wisely avoids this trap and chooses to focus on elegance and readability. Exactly what I love to see. To nitpick, perhaps the final level could still use a bit of readability work, or maybe I was just wearing puzzle blinders, as I often do. If you get stuck on it like me, the hints should get you through. The ending of the game arguably is a little abrupt too, but that's completely fine in my book. I'd rather an abrupt ending than a protracted drawing out of tired ideas. Music, art, writing, and sound all are on point in a DIY kind of way. Big time I Wanna Lockpick vibes and I am absolutely here for it. I hope to see more I Wanna Lockpick inspired games in the future from Dawid or others. Overall, Elementalist is a refined experience that I recommend for anyone who is open to a thoughtful platforming-centric twist on the core I Wanna Lockpick/Magic Tower formula.

A fun little romp through order-of-operation decision-making with clear and clever iterations of mechanics.