Inkwellers

This game reminded me so much of We Were Here. A first person co-op puzzle adventure where you can choose between two characters and venture into a book. Each stage has a different atmosphere, and you'll learn parts of the story. The story is interesting, and the gameplay, while it has its flaws, is still not bad. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3735224020 The artwork is good for an indie game, and the soundtrack fits the atmosphere of each stage. The game could be relaxing if you don't feel rushed or have a tight time to play it with your partner. I played it with a friend, and we live in different countries. There was occasional lag, and the game kicked us to the main menu a couple of times during our first sessions before the game's release. I've noticed that in our latest playthrough, this has been fixed. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3735224632 The game requires a lot of communication, and preferably vocally, it has a built-in voice chat, but we've used Discord. I enjoyed some of the puzzles, while others left me frustrated. The good thing is that you can interact with everything in the environment and create another solution to get something. For example, we tried stacking the books in the second stage to retrieve the items from the bookshelves, and it worked. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3735224520 I didn't like the use of the shapes in the puzzles, those that you must describe to your partner to be able to input them in their end, they were difficult to describe. And for me, the Celestial bond stage was the worst, since there was lag when we played it. The last-stage puzzle was a bit confusing and frustrating. Pros: +Interesting story. +Co-op +Very fitting soundtracks. +Chellenging puzzles +Good game length. +Eeirie atmosphere. +Chapters select. +Steam achievements. Cons: -The shapes you have to tell your partner about are difficult to describe and could be confusing at the beginning. -Hinting system gives the solution. -Some of the puzzles are confusing and frustrating. If you have time and a partner who enjoys puzzles, give this game a go. It took us around 6 hours to beat the game once, and we ran it again to get all the missable achievements. This game requires a lot of patience and time to play and enjoy. [quote]𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒 [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32399565/]𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎'𝑠 𝐶𝘩𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒[/url][/quote] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] Follow [b]IndieGems[/b] [/url] for more reviews like this one. [/quote]

[b]My Playtime:[/b] 12.7h (11/12 achievement, finished the game twice) [b]My First Playthrough:[/b] 10.4h [b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] No. [b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (2 achievements). [b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No. [h1]Intro[/h1] [i]Inkwellers[/i] is a 2-player co-op puzzle game where you need to cooperate to solve a series of puzzles. It has 9 chapters in total, each with several unique puzzles in it. [b]Pros:[/b] - 9 levels - Hints in case you are stuck [b]Cons:[/b] - Some puzzles can be solved by brute-forcing the solutions - Some puzzles can be solved solo [b]Specs[/b] AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 16GB RAM, AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [i]Some puzzle clues can be hard to notice, and if you don't manage to find them, you'll end up brute-forcing the puzzle since the game encourages you to do that. Plus, some puzzles can be solved solo, eliminating the need for co-op in a co-op-only game.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h3]The Game[/h3] [i]Inkwellers[/i] is a puzzle game that can only be played with two people. Both people must purchase a copy of the game to play, in which they will play as either a man or a woman. The characters are fixed, and you can only play as either one. You'll watch a cutscene once you start the game. Given the presentation, it doesn't appear to use many resources, but my co-op partner and I got kicked out to the main menu quite often whenever I'm not skipping it. It usually works on a second try, although it was weird that it kept happening on the first try. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3737106757  The game is divided into 9 levels. The first level is unlocked by default, with other levels being locked; you must clear the previous levels to unlock them. However, progress is not saved inside the levels—the number of whispers, in-game clues, are saved, but your puzzle progress is not. At our first playthrough, the game crashed so much that we had to restart the first level so many times. This seems to be caused by the PC performance and was resolved by fixing the hardware, but just like the cutscene, I didn't expect this game to be using so many resources, especially given the resulting visuals. Sure, they look nice, but it's not at the level of AA games. [b]Puzzles[/b] You'll be moved to a location with a series of puzzles as soon as you start the level. Some levels have puzzles that you can solve in any order that you want, although most of them require you to finish in a certain order. Of course, the game never tells you the order, so you must figure it out by yourself. Puzzle difficulty varies. Some are pretty straightforward, others are more obscure. The game tends to give obscure clues, ones that you really need to look carefully to find. They usually only give one clue, which will not give you much room to think whenever you are stuck and accidentally miss it. That being said, the game offers in-game hints. Heck, even looking at the hint and not using it already helps since it can be used to check the puzzle order. However, clicking the hints button will give you the solution instead of an actual hint. I prefer to have the hints given bit by bit so I could still have the satisfaction of solving the puzzles. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3736424724  Despite the lack of clues needed to solve the puzzles, some puzzles can be brute-forced. Up to this point of writing, I still don't know the thinking process of one puzzle because I somehow found the solution by accidentally brute-forcing it. It helps to prevent frustration when you play the game blind without hints, though I still wish I could solve the puzzle without resorting to this method. Solving the puzzles never feels satisfying this way, and you end up being confused instead of having that aha moment that satisfies you once you solve it. Solutions are not randomized. Even though most puzzles require you to find a certain combination, these solutions will remain the same even though you replay them. It makes the game not replayable, especially since it lets you experience most of it in your first playthrough—even though you will be separated in a place that the other person can't see a few times, these roles can be reversed just by restarting the level and changing your actions. Some puzzles can be solved by one person. As a 2-player only game, I find this decision to be weird, especially since it will rob the other player of the experience of solving the puzzles. I even had to explain the solution to my partner whenever this happened to prevent confusion, and this happened only because I solved the puzzle a bit faster. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3735224020  Communication is important in some puzzles. While most levels place you in the same room, you will sometimes be split into a unique location. You need to communicate information to both parties to figure out how to solve the puzzles, and this can also be an issue if you somehow miss the clue. Moreover, some information that you need to communicate tends to be in the form of symbols, and one of the levels has symbols that can be hard to communicate with since they look similar. The game seems to try all kinds of puzzle mechanics for a two-player puzzle game. Sometimes you need to communicate to solve a puzzle, other times you need to walk together to cross the road. Both people can see all information on one level most of the time, and you just need to direct the other person on what to do. Heck, there is even a puzzle where I just need to stand on a tile while my partner does the whole thing—I might as well be replaced with a box, and the puzzle can still be solvable this way. I'd rather play a co-op puzzle game where both parties pull their weight and contribute rather than having either one carry the whole thing. [b]Length and Difficulty[/b] I finished the game for the first time in 10.4h. It took longer than usual because we crashed and bugged at the early levels a lot. Luckily, the developers are responsive enough and fixed these issues right away. As for the difficulty, technically, it shouldn't be hard to finish as long as you find all the clues, although doing that is the challenge, especially since it's hard to differentiate which is part of the puzzle and which is not. That being said, you can use hints to get the solution whenever you are stuck. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] [i]Inkwellers[/i] is a decent co-op game, although not without its shortcomings. You are encouraged to brute-force a puzzle if you can't manage to find the clues needed to solve it, and the clues themselves might not be that noticeable. Moreover, the game feels more fitting as a single-player game sometimes, especially with how many puzzles can be solved solo. Honestly, I'm not sure whether to recommend this game—it was practically unplayable at first, although the devs have fixed it. All that's left is just the frustration whenever you can't seem to solve the puzzles. Other puzzle games usually are more self-contained, which makes the clues more noticeable, but this game isn't. Moreover, you are left with an option to brute-force it if you somehow miss it. This doesn't make the game fun to solve, and even though I figured out how to solve the puzzles without brute-forcing, it never triggers that aha moment that usually happens whenever I play these kinds of games. The game was decent, and I would prefer to give it a neutral review if I could, but since I had to choose, I'm leaning on the negative side a bit. As such, I'm afraid I couldn't recommend this game. [quote]This game was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free through Curator Connect.[/quote] [quote]Follow our curator page: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/quote]

Was a decent co-op puzzle game but I have a few gripes that pushed me to a negative review. -Any puzzle that required an object to move was agonizingly slow so you spend a lot of time just waiting around. -One of the puzzles was completely broken (potions) so we had to restart which locked us out one of the achievements permanently because our note score is now incorrect seemingly forever. -Platforming was jank, and items would occasionally disappear when placed in the spots they were supposed to go. -If you want to tell a story, try to tell it through the gameplay and not 28 collectable paragraphs. Devs for sure have potential, this one just needed more time.

@ScrumptySprouts Feedback to Dev: While Inkwellers is short (took us ~4 hours), it is a beautifully illustrated puzzle experience with fun-challenging gameplay and good audio design - it offers a bit of lore without overstaying its welcome and the puzzles require real thought, though the hint system is overly generous and often gives away the full solution instead of nudging you in the right direction in most cases. Overall, great game that lands a solid 8/10 IMO. Looking forward to your next IP :) ---{ Graphics }--- ☑ Beautiful ☑ Good ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Good ---{ Audio }--- ☑ Good ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☑ Potato ---{ Game Size }--- ☑ Workable ---{ Difficulty }--- ☑ Significant brain usage ---{ Grind }--- ☑ Nothing to grind ---{ Story }--- ☑ Some lore ---{ Game Time }--- ☑ Short ---{ Price }--- ☑ Worth the price ---{ Bugs }--- ☑ Never heard of ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☑ 8

Short but sweet. It's great. Some head scratchers

Pros and Cons: (spoilers ahead) Pros: - Looks good! Love each level has its own vibe. - Some unique puzzles are fun! - The story fits the atmosphere and solutions - The glass puzzle with shadows was great, and so was the simple chess puzzle to open that room up Cons: - Latency/Connection issues during 3d platforming sections -"hint" system just gives solutions and not a hint - The workload is not balanced between the players when split up. - The keyhole for the flying key puzzle is not logical (no opening in the symbol for a key?) - The timing on the 6 statue puzzle finish is akward - The platforming itself was clunky and frustrating - Some interactable objects are not clear, especially for accessability reasons - The Crystal Color puzzle has difficult to see shapes to distinguish for color blindness - The Soundwave puzzle has sound waves that are too similar

**SPOILERS MENTIONED** Overall, the game is fun, my partner and I are really enjoying the puzzles. The crystal room has been my favourite so far! We're currently having issues with jankiness in the alchemist room when trying to create potions. When we reset the room, we were able to finally make the small potion & the seeing potion to progress, but after trying to make the next potion it stopped working again, despite following the steps and doing the fire stuff right. Its a shame because everything we feel has been working well up until this point. I'm sure the game will be working fine in the future once the jankiness has been addressed by the devs. I'm definitely going to update this review once we are able to finish the game.

Molto carino, enigmi leggermente impegnativi, ma tutto sommato soldi ben spesi.

Quite nice, if a bit short.

Great Game, Great Art Direction and fun puzzles. Hal way through the game.