Maze

прикольная игрушка на полчасика. сложность не ровная, но весьма вероятно что под клавиатуру и не рассчитана изначально

I went into Maze expecting a pretty simple little arcade challenge, and that is basically what I got. It is a short game built around moving through a series of rooms while trying to reach the end without getting caught by lasers. It does not waste much time with story or complicated systems, so the focus is almost entirely on movement, timing and figuring out how each room works. I actually liked how quickly it gets going because there is very little getting in the way of the main idea. The maze sections are the best part for me. A lot of the challenge comes from watching the laser patterns and working out when it is safe to move. Some rooms require more careful timing while others test how quickly I can react. I liked that the challenges are fairly small because it gives each section a clear goal without making me feel like I am stuck in the same puzzle for ages. There is a nice feeling when I finally make it through a room that had been catching me out. The movement also gives the game a bit more energy than I expected. This is not really a slow puzzle game where I can casually wander around forever. There are moments where I need to move quickly and commit to a route before the hazards catch me. That makes the later sections more enjoyable because I am paying attention to patterns rather than simply looking for the exit. I also liked the presentation. The colourful style is simple but fits the game well, and the music gives the whole thing a surprisingly energetic arcade feeling. It reminded me a little of the sort of compact games I would play for a quick challenge rather than something I would sit down with for an entire evening. The controller support is another nice touch, especially since the movement feels better suited to that kind of play. The biggest problem is definitely the length. Maze is around half an hour for a normal playthrough, so there is not a huge amount of content here. Once I understood what the game was doing, I could see pretty quickly where the experience was heading. I would have liked more rooms, more complicated hazards and maybe some extra challenge modes to give me a reason to keep coming back. That said, I think the short length works better than it would in a larger game because Maze never really gets the chance to become boring. It has a very focused idea and sticks to it. I can play through it, test myself against the harder sections and then move on without feeling like I have spent hours doing the same thing. For a small free game, that is a pretty fair trade. Overall, I enjoyed Maze for what it is. It is simple, quick and surprisingly engaging when the laser patterns start getting harder. I would have liked more content and a little more variety, but the core challenge is fun and the game does a good job of keeping things moving. It is an easy recommendation if I want a short arcade style puzzle game that I can finish in one sitting. Rating: 7.4/10

[h1] 7/10[/h1] [h2]General thoughts:[/h2] Nice little free game that will keep you engaged the whole way through. It is recommended to play on controller, but I don't have one so I played it on keyboard, which is doable, but I do think on controller the gameplay would feel much smoother. [h2]Pro's:[/h2] [list] [*]Free [*]Nice artstyle [*]Level based gameplay [*]Interesting concept [*]Medium to hard difficulty [/list] [h2]Con's[/h2] [list] [*]No way to exit out of the game while playing [*]Rather loud [*]Sounddesign becomes repetitive [*]Hitboxes are somewhat confusing [*]On keyboard it's really easy to get stuck on walls [/list] [h2]Other info:[/h2] [b]Playtime:[/b] On keyboard I'd say 60-90 minutes [b]Difficulty:[/b] 7/10 [b]Achievement difficulty:[/b] No achievements [b]Replayability:[/b] 4/10

This game is the perfect combination of frantic and relaxed. Hard enough to require focus, but not so hard that it becomes stressful. Each level is the perfect length to be a challenge without feeling like you have a lot of progress to lose. However, the controls for this game are very frustrating, at least on keyboard. The best way to play is to constantly tap move commands instead of holding down keys. If you hold down a movement key for a second and then start holding another direction in addition, your character will only move in the new direction slightly. The only way to move perfectly diagonally is to tap two directions simultaneously. There is no menu and very little UI. I'm a big fan of that choice, however you cannot adjust volume or even quit the game without using the windows key to bring up the taskbar so you can close the window. The game looks 3D, but is actually 2D. That creates some issues with hitboxes not working the way you would expect. Your character's hitbox is only the shadow below them, and the walls look bigger than they actually are on the edges of the circle. The circle seems to be split into 3 rings, with a laser covering each ring. However, the 1st and 3rd ring lasers cover way too much space, leaving only a tiny gap in the middle of the 2nd row to hide if lasers are covering the 1st and 3rd ring. That would be a kind of fun mechanic if only the controls and hitboxes weren't so unintuitive. The music is incredible and never gets boring even though it is fairly simple. The artstyle is incredible, the animations are very fun, and the overall vibe makes me want to spend more time in this game. It reminds me a lot of classic flash games. However, I felt like I was fighting the game's quirks instead of figuring out the puzzles most of the time. This game could easily be much, much better than it is. The circle format for levels is truly genius and creates incredibly fun challenges. This idea should be explored a lot more. The name choice is very questionable. For a game with so much character, "maze" is incredibly generic. There are a million games on steam called "maze", the only reason I found this is because I was searching through games with very high ratings.

Quick and nice game, good looking design ! Love it

Fun game to play. The mental gymnastics you need to complete the mazes definitely stress the brain,

Thanks for sharing this game :)

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