Homgard

I've been asking myself what the right time is to write this review, I've full-cleared 3 areas out of 25 and finished what was possible so far of another. This game is basically two things, the first is a variant-nonogram game and the second is a fantasy novel. The map of Homgard consists of tiles which each are a 5x5 nonogram, tiles can combine into areas to form larger size nonograms. Some of the cells can be different colored and each colored cell has a specific variant rule associated with it. For instance, all connected red tiles activate all at once or not at all. I've not seen all the rules yet, but I know they combine together later in harder puzzles, the first areas are focused on just introducing a single colored variant rule. Now, once you've cleared a puzzle you reveal the map underneath and most of time you will reveal one or more snippets of lore, this is where the fantasy novel part of the game comes in. Homgard contains many shortish snippets of lore that combine together to form a bigger picture of the world. You might see a conversation captured between high-ranking individuals, an ad for a potion, a letter between two individuals, some ancient inscriptions or perhaps some deeper truths that hint on what really is going on. There is a lot of it and it's well-written. So far the nonograms are a bit on the easy side, 5x5 nonograms generally offer no challenge and there are a lot of those in the beginning, but they do serve for a nice palate cleanser in between reading the story snippets. As you get further out though the difficulty increases and you start seeing larger grids. I'm sure it'll get harder later since I'm still in the beginning stages of the game. The large amount of 5x5 nonograms in the beginning do make it so you have a lot of reading in the beginning which could be hit-or-miss, on one hand it does help you get into the story faster as there are a lot of names/concepts and it takes some time to figure out who everything is, and what is important. Luckily the quality is good and I haven't wanted to skip anything yet, which the game does let you do, you can skip all the story if you want and just do the nonograms. There appears to be some chronology in the snippets too, so far, each area appears to have its own theme that it focuses on. As you get further out the story progresses and stuff happens, it seems the anchor of the area contains the most important snippet, so I've been full-clearing each area in an order I found logical, finishing at the anchor and then doing everything that unlocks after the anchor. Though, it does let you choose whether to rush to the important stuff or take it slow. Some areas are locked behind gathering dreamer cores. The progress of slowly unlocking each area is very pleasing, especially as you look back and see the world taking form. I also really enjoy the music, there are lots of good tracks that are a real bop and keep you in a trance-like state. Some things I personally still would like to see: There is so much lore, it's initially challenging to keep track of it. I was thinking it would be cool to have some kind of trivia or (fill-in the blank) detective element like in Return of the Obra Dinn and The Case of the Golden Idol, where the game could ask you to fill in who each of the contenders of the throne are for instance, there are some areas which are empty of nonograms that could be used for it, they could link back to the snippets it's asking questions about. This might not mesh with the vision of the creator, but I would enjoy it. [strike]I also would like some kind of search system that highlights the unlocked lore snippets (and specific text therein) where your searched term appears. This would be useful if a name is mentioned and you want to remind yourself where you saw it before. The snippets could even be set in chronological order according to the date of the snippets. [/strike] Edit: This has been implemented now, I'm very happy! The creator also says what is in the game currently is only the first book of the story with 3 more books being planned filling out the remaining 75? areas. I like the game very much so far and looking forward to continuing the game and reading more of the story.

大量的数织题，其实做起来还挺有乐趣的，不太需要使用大脑，很休闲 剧情则是多到匪夷所思，就像把一个超大西幻世界设定集拆成几百份文档丢在地图上，以至于很难判断世界观和数织究竟哪个是醋哪个是饺子 感觉看剧情比做数织难十倍，进入游戏半个小时就完全放弃阅读剧情了）之后偶尔被地图吸引想再看看发现完全看不懂

If you're like me and have played so many nonograms that you can complete any 5x5 in under 10 seconds and any 10x10 in under 30 seconds I BEG of you to not sleep on this game. The new mechanics Manapunk introduces in this game are so fun and make nonograms an actual challenge again. I am a bit iffy on how the story is presented but the puzzles more than make up for any shortcomings. Edit: 100% all available puzzles. Best nonograms I've ever solved. The AI music sucks, muted that within the first 10 minutes. Honestly think the AI assets hurt the game's reputation more than it helps. I get why the dev used it but in using it they have put this thought in the back of my mind that the story/writing could be AI too (not that I'm accusing them of that, just pointing out the possibility added because of the use of AI elsewhere). That combined with how the story is presented in bite-sized chunks with no glossary or anything to tie it together meant that I just stopped paying attention to it after the first hour. Maybe add a way to read all entries together, have highlighted terms/nouns that link related entries? Idk. I realize I might come across as really negative in this review to still recommend this, but seriously the puzzles were just that damn good. I hope this does well enough for the dev to see all 4 planned parts to completion. Hell I'll pay extra for them. So I'm begging anyone that reads this, if you have any passing interest in nonograms then please get this, you will enjoy it.

好玩好玩，画面精致，交互性好，剧情有点杂，看不懂就没看，就纯粹当作数织游戏来玩了。

Looking forward to the next part!

Very fun mechanics, colors make it hard to see things sometimes, very dark. Also it seems to be incomplete. You get to a certain point and then get a bunch of "coming soon" messages. I still recommend it though.

On the gameplay side: I haven't loved a nonogram game this much since the original Picross and Picross 3D. The basic interactions are just really smooth. The special cell types are all interesting to work with and they interact with each other in fun ways. The puzzle design is great, and there's a clear difficulty and puzzle size progression that feels nice. On the narrative side: Builds up mystery and intrigue in a really organic way. Lots of interesting characters, fun world-building details. A few very unsubtle references to pop culture took me out of it here and there, but they're very rare. I did not expect to care about the story. The story earned my genuine curiosity Overall, it's fantastic, worth your time.

Very good nonograms / picross game with a lot of different variations that I haven't seen in other places. There is a layer of lore on top that you can either read and enjoy or completely ignore, either way works. One of the best new nonogram games I've seen come out in a while.

非常精彩的数织类解谜游戏，加入的六种新机制简洁直观，却使得趣味性大大增加，而新机制提供的新线索又使得常规的大规模谜题（例如50*40尺寸的谜题）变得更易求解。精彩的手制谜题使得每个关卡都有清晰的思考逻辑，相较于市面上大多以图案设计为亮点的数织作品，本作提供的是更为纯粹的解谜体验。强烈强烈推荐

Saying this as someone who has 100%ed the game, this is a breath of fresh air in a beloved genre of mine. I have been both challenged and delighted by the puzzles of Homgard in a way that a nonogram game has not been able to achieve for quite some time! Fans of the genre (or fans of puzzles in general) should absolutely check it out. The story and gameplay are integrated in a way that gives Homgard a surprisingly robust ludonarrative, and the beautiful patterns strewn throughout are very pleasing to the brain. It's a game that respects your intelligence and isn't afraid to demand high standards of you, but also offers flexibility when it is most needed. If I have anything negative to say about the game, it's that I really wish there was a compendium of stories accessible in the menu. Cross-referencing bits of lore is nigh-impossible when you have to remember where each one is on the map and physically navigate between them to read them. This isn't something that gets in the way of the puzzles, but it is still a bit of a downside in my eyes. Overall, this game is certainly worth its price. I'm no puzzle novice, and the game offered over 50 hours of content for me. I'm looking forward to seeing what the developer has next in store!