Magnesium_173 is a turn-based, movement-based puzzle game with time-related mechanics that are loosely based on quantum physics. The developer was kind enough to give me a free code for the game just for showing interest in it prior to its launch, and I had a good time playing it, but you're probably more interested in whether I think the game is worth its current base price of 15 USD or not, as that does seem a bit hefty for this type of puzzle game, and after giving it some thought, I would have to say that I think it's worth just that, and this review will explain how I came to that opinion.
I'll start with the gameplay. Your task for each level is to bring a particle (basically your playable character) to the goal-tile. It sounds simple enough, but you need to achieve that within the 'time limit'. Since this is a turn-based game, that just means you have a limited number of turns to get to the goal, and this number varies from level to level. Each move you make uses up a turn, including the 'wait' option you choose when you don't want to move your particle. The first time-related mechanic you encounter is the ability to go back and forth between time (turns). This mechanic only matters when you have more than one particle present, and that's where the next mechanic introduced, 'branching' comes into play. You are able to split your particle into more particles, as can be seen from the trailer above. A particle will 'remember' its action for each turn, which in turn allows you to control each particle independently. For example, after moving one particle for a few turns, you can rewind to the beginning and move another particle, and you will see that the first particle will still move as it did for each turn. You can do this for any number of turns and particles, and on top of that, only one particle needs to reach the goal to beat a level.
This might make branching seem too powerful of a tool, but you are soon introduced to something called 'action points'. Each particle present at the end of a turn will generate an action point, and there's a limit to the number of action points allowed for each level, so even if you reach the goal, having too many action points will prevent you from beating the level. There are more interesting mechanics you will encounter later in the game, but branching at the right time and place in order to stay within both the time and actions limit forms the basis of most of the puzzles. There are more than 100 levels in the game, more than most puzzle games, which should take you upwards of 10 hours to complete. The overall difficulty, I would say, is moderately difficult, though the game starts off pretty easy and only gets challenging once action points are introduced, and once you reach the last half a dozen levels or so, I felt like there was a difficulty spike where the puzzles became 'brain-meltingly' hard and stumped me, though difficulty is subjective, of course.
Aside from the interesting mechanics, the strongest point of the game for me was the visuals. The first thing you're most likely to notice about the game is the vivid colours. Admittedly, that was what got me interested in it in the first place, aside from my love for puzzle games. Aside from the striking colours, there are some interesting animation effects going on as well. See those colourful tiles floating in space in the trailer? They actually zip around and form the tiles for each level. Apart from that, they also move to form the buttons for the level-select menu. This is quite a nice touch from the dev. On top of that, the UI looks pretty sleek and modern.
There is also some light reading material in the game. When you first start the game, you're placed into a text conversation with a mysterious contact aptly named "Someone Else". He will not only lecture you on the mechanics of the game in a manner that is both sciencey and philosophical as you progress, he will also act as a tutor when you're in-level, explaining the basics of each mechanic to you. Apart from that, your conversations with him will also decide the order in which the branches in the level-select menu open up. There isn't really a story to the game, but there will be some sort of reveal once you've beaten it.
Last but not least, the game actually has a complete built-in walkthrough system, which is the first I've seen in a puzzle game. When you first ask for help, all it does is give you a vague hint on the basic idea on how to solve a level. However, if that doesn't help you, you can always request the full solution, and not only will the system guide you step by step, it will also show you an instruction box that explains the purpose for each sequence of moves, so that you will actually understand why the solution works. In addition to that, you are allowed to stop the instruction at any given time to complete the rest of the level yourself if you feel like you already know what to do.
While having any sort of help system in a puzzle game is a controversial design choice, as many would argue that it would give less incentive for players to figure things out on their own, it'll at least allow more players to complete the game. I admittedly had to resort to walkthroughs for 6 levels near the end of the game, as some of the concepts behind the mechanics of the game can be pretty hard to grasp, such is the nature of timey-wimey stuff. I might have been able to figure them out on my own in time, but hindsight is 20/20. Anyway, there was a bug with the walkthrough system when I first played the game, but it was fixed by the developer after I gave him my feedback.
To sum it all up, while not a masterpiece by any means, the interesting puzzles with unique mechanics, large number of levels, decent difficulty and impressive visuals means that it's safe to say that Magnesium_173 is a pretty good puzzle game. The extensive help system and light reading material are just bonuses. The whole package makes it worth 15 bucks in my book. Just don't expect it to be as good as the equally priced Baba Is You, as that is one of the greatest puzzle games ever that is easily worth more than its price. What you should expect is a beautiful-looking, moderately difficult puzzle game with unique time-related mechanics that will keep you occupied for 10+ hours, and should you ever get stuck, there is an integrated walkthrough system that you can always rely on.
