[b]7/10[/b]
A good and challenging logic game.
[b]What is it:[/b] A logic game in which you must place squares with different colors in their corners on a grid so that all adjacent corners have the same color. There are markers on the edges of the grid as well, indicating which color must be in that spot, which is the first clue for starting to solve a level. The first half of the levels felt a lot like Aurora Bound (or Aurora Hex but with squares), except that all the tiles are already in the grid, you must shift them into the proper place. Some pieces are stuck in place, but most pieces can be rotated and can swap places with one of their neighbors. Later on, regions are introduced, which limit moving pieces only inside their starting region.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3304425740
Things get a lot more interesting at level 19 with the introduction of a new mechanic: divide platforms. These can be empty, and when you drag a piece unto it, it splits that piece into two, cloning each half to make two new whole symmetrical pieces. And you can drag a piece out onto another piece if both of them are symmetrical. This mechanic is quite challenging to understand and use, but there's a help screen dedicated to it with lots of explanations and examples. You can use it to [spoiler]change the order of the corners, change the balance of colors, duplicate tiles, split and merge tiles, create or destroy tiles, or in general create new tiles with the exact colors you need[/spoiler], if you can figure out the correct sequence of steps. At level 33 another mechanic is added, copy platforms. This kind of spot copies a tile dragged onto it, or merges two identical tiles back into one. And lastly, level 44 introduces the half copy platform, which only copies half of a tile, and you can copy two individual halves to form a new composite tile. The final levels use all these mechanics combined in “hard levels”, although I found these merely big, but not as challenging as the levels around 30.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3304425817
Personally I enjoyed this for the puzzles, but the game is lacking a bit of quality because it is also a phone game. There is no undo, it has a cumbersome prev/next level select, and a very minimal UI. While these are bad, they aren't critical flaws. No action is irreversible, so you can “undo” by doing your past actions in reverse. And there is a level select, it’s just cumbersome to use. I understand that it's easier for a developer to have a single codebase and a familiar interface across all devices, but developers should also understand that a computer is not a phone.
[b]How hard is it:[/b] Very easy to hard, a good spread, although the difficulty jumps around a lot.
[b]How long is it:[/b] 56 levels, 2-4 hours, must be done in order, no skipping allowed.
[b]Level design:[/b] Good. Varied levels, interesting mechanics, and enough clues to solve each level logically. I think the order of the levels could be improved a bit.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3304425835
[b]Quality:[/b] Good levels, pleasant graphics, decent settings, just a few things to complain about. No undo, no mid-level progress saving on quitting. Cumbersome level select. Works with mouse, keyboard and controller, and the controls are fully configurable. Not everything works with a controller though. Good audio and video settings. No dark mode, but it isn't terribly bright. Colorblind friendly. Cloud saving, progress achievements. Small, fast and responsive.
[b]Worth the price:[/b] Yes, if you don't mind the lack of features I mentioned, but I would like to see it improved.
[b]Most positive aspect for me:[/b] Challenging puzzles.
[b]Most negative aspect for me:[/b] No undo.
[b]What would make it better:[/b] Undo. Swap the order of the mechanics, I think it should be yellow copy, green half copy, and finally blue divide. Progress saving between sessions. A proper level select. Progress reset and multiple profiles. Hints, the option to skip a few levels, or even an Unlock All button in the settings. Dark mode. Add a way to reach the help button with a controller, and to switch levels. Also use the left joystick for moving the selection, not just the d-pad. Use the shoulder buttons and triggers to turn pieces too. On the Steam Deck don’t disable the touchscreen. Level editor and Steam workshop integration. Random and daily levels.
[b]Also consider:[/b]
[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/724640/AuroraBound_Deluxe/?curator_clanid=25928931]AuroraBound[/url] and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/10588/Patterns__Logic_Bundle/?curator_clanid=25928931]Aurora Hex[/url], very similar to the first part of the game, with a lot more levels.
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[quote]Follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/quote]
