Knowledge Keeper

[b]7/10[/b] A mage with a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage must cross a river, but at night Cyclops is on the side ready to shoot you with his laser eyes, and at day the goat turns invisible, and with your one sword hit you can either break the wall, chop the tree, or kill the Cyclops. [b]What is it:[/b] A logic game in a dungeon crawler presentation. You play as a mage, trying to collect two crystals, or sometimes only one. You can switch between two states, yellow or blue (fire or ice), and many elements in the game only work when you have their matching color, e.g. barriers that only let you through when you’re yellow, spikes that only kill you when you’re blue, enemies that fade out when you’re not blue, and so on. Plus, each crystal can only be collected when you have their matching color. And there are lots of other puzzle elements: switches that turn on/off items, boxes that can be pushed, fragile tiles that only allow you to pass once or twice, water that drowns you unless you push a box in it to make a bridge, crumbly walls that can be broken down with a sword, ice or cold spells, trees that can be destroyed by either ice or fire, enemies that just block your way, shoot in one direction, or shoot in all directions, and many others. Each level consists of several smaller rooms connected by different kinds of passages, and you must figure out the proper sequence of actions that allows you to reach the two crystals. In essence, this is an advanced version of resource management logic puzzles like the classic wolf/goat/cabbage riddle. I enjoyed all the puzzles, each level is quite long and with many steps involved, and the solutions aren’t obvious. I consider this a good mental challenge for anybody who likes this kind of logic puzzles. However, I was a bit frustrated by the implementation. The game is almost gridlike, but not quite. While all elements are in a grid, you move freely pixel by pixel, so often you get snagged by a corner of the box and accidentally push it into a pit, or you stop one pixel too late and the box you were pushing slides one tile too far, and with no undo, that means having to restart the level from scratch. Since the levels are big, you can’t see them all at once, so often you have to waste the first few runs in a level just trying to see what else lies beyond your view, and make an inventory of what barriers stand in your way and what tools you can use. Another aspect that both delighted and bothered me a bit is that the environment is well designed, populated with lots of things that look like they would be useful: cracked walls that I would expect to be able to break down and find a secret room, chests that I wanted to open, doors that are just for decoration, candles that I can extinguish and urns that I can break and vials that I can collect, but to no avail. I wasted so much time looking for secrets, but there aren’t any. Other than the frustrating lack of undo and the misleading scenery, this is a great game. [b]How hard is it:[/b] Moderate, it isn’t easy, but it never gets too difficult either. [b]How long is it:[/b] 50 levels in 4 chapters, 3-5 hours, must be completed in order. [b]Level design:[/b] Very good. Good intro levels, complex puzzles with non-obvious unique solutions. [b]Quality:[/b] Very good, with the exception of a few choices. No undo, no mid-level saving. Good level select, quick restart, but also instant restart when you make a mistake and die. OK controls, works both with keyboard and controller, but not rebindable and some key choices feel awkward to me. A few settings. Cloud saving, progress achievements. Generally responsive, but movement is a bit too slow for me and boxes often got pushed too far, until I learned to stop one spot earlier than where I want it to be. [b]Worth the price:[/b] Yes. [b]Most positive aspect for me:[/b] Excellent logic riddles. [b]Most negative aspect for me:[/b] Lack of undo. [b]What would make it better:[/b] Undo. Grid movement. Mid-level progress saving. Add a way to scroll through the level without moving through it. Controls rebinding. Better achievements, not just for basic progress, but for doing weird things, or finding clever solutions. Faster movement. Add a Skip Level option, or have more than one level unlocked, as well as better visual representation of which levels are solved. [b]Also consider:[/b] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1110620/Way_of_Rhea/?curator_clanid=25928931]Way of Rhea[/url], another wolf/goat/cabbage riddle game, but in a platformer presentation. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2149560/Unforgettable_Voyage/?curator_clanid=25928931]Unforgettable Voyage[/url], leaning more into Sokoban. [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] [quote]Follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/quote]

(Deutsch): Danke Nikolai das ich deines neuen Games spielen kann. Kam erst jetzt zum Let´s Play Video zu deinem Game und bin positiv überrascht das es Spaß macht das Game. Die Übersetzung ins deutsche und die Musik im Hintergrund gefällt mir. Ich habe mich bei manchen Leveln doof angestellt. Ich habe es mit dem Xbox 360 Controller gespielt das kein Problem war. Man muss immer am Ende des Kristalles die Farbe haben die gelb ist. Wenn man zwischen Portaltüren gehe, wird man blau und bei anderem Portal dann gelb. Die Sokoban Feature ist das man Kisten an den Stellen wie Wasser oder in Wände reinschieben, um dann in Räume etc. zu kommen. Es wird immer schwieriger werde es auf jedenfalls weiterspielen aber die ersten 13 Minuten haben Spaß gemacht. Dank Nikolai vom Entwickler ist beim Let´s Play Video ein Gewinnspiel bis zu, 29.06.2024 wo ich 4 Steam Keys verlose an euch. Hier kommt ihr auf mein Let´s Play Video zum Game: https://youtu.be/nmjzYb7_YJE _____________________________ (English): Thanks Nikolai that I can play your new game. I just got to the Let's Play video for your game and I'm pleasantly surprised that the game is fun. I like the translation into German and the music in the background. I messed up on some levels. I played it with the Xbox 360 controller and it wasn't a problem. You always have to have the color yellow at the end of the crystal. If you go between portal doors, you turn blue and then yellow at another portal. The Sokoban feature is that you push boxes into places like water or into walls to get into rooms etc. It gets more and more difficult, I'll keep playing it anyway, but the first 13 minutes were fun. Thanks to Nikolai from the developer, there is a competition in the Let's Play video until June 29th, 2024 where I'm giving away 4 Steam keys to you. Here you can find my Let's Play video for the game: https://youtu.be/nmjzYb7_YJE

I just did a random purchase on this game and i was NOT disappointed at all. Well worth the 3$ don't hesitate picking this up if you're looking for some puzzles and good times.

Красивые пиксели. Атмосферная заставка. Милый гг. Музыка из таверны. За несколько уровней сложилось очень приятное впечатление. Головоломки в начале простые, уровни небольшие. Очень ламповая игра на "неспешно поразмышлять".

The pixel graphics and level presentation are fantastic. However I found the puzzle mechanics a bit underwhelming. Still a good buy for the price.

Buen juego. Jugado en Linux con Proton.