[b]paper - a game of folding[/b] is exactly what it says on the tin: a game where you fold virtual paper with your mouse to create various shapes in a certain amount of moves. controls are simple, but need some getting used to: holding the left mouse button and moving the mouse folds, holding the right mouse button unfolds, moving with shift held down snaps to angles, ctrl snaps to corners (both can be toggled while playing a level as well), and that's about it, but actually creating the desired shapes is not easy.
there are 66 levels, grouped thematically, but they also get trickier later. each starts with a square-shaped paper and a silhouette, there's no timer, but there's a fold limit. steps are recorded at the bottom of the screen and you can go back and forth between them, which is the local version of undo/redo and it works really well. obviously, if you go back to, say, step 2 and start folding, the rest after it will disappear, but another excellent thing is when you finish a level, you can still look at your steps and think of ways to fine-tune them, and only move on to the next challenge when you want to.
tutorials open up one by one, but the contents of the other packs are all available when you unlock them with stars you get via the 3-star rating system, based on how accurately you can recreate the shapes in question. 85% accuracy gets you 1 star, 2 stars for 90% and 3 for 95%, so no need to reach 100% to perfect a level from a star rating aspect.
achievements are awarded for completing every level in a pack for at least 1 star, and there's one for getting 100% on every level. this all sounds easy (except for the last one), but believe me, it is not (I said it twice already, so it must be true).
I should have started with this, but here goes: [b]the presentation is perfect[/b]. clean, elegant, slick design, as soon as the menu appeared, I was in awe. the audio is great too, the sound of folding paper and other effects, and the music, which is 'semi-procedural' according to the store page, isn't intrusive and doesn't get annoying over time. there are separate volume sliders, resolution options, windowed and borderless windowed mode, leaderboards (global and friends only), confirmation prompts, everything. I wish other developers would check it out too, this is how it should be done.
I might have mentioned that [b]the game is really challenging[/b], but maybe others won't find it as difficult as I did. you definitely need to be in the right mindset to comprehend how folding this way or that will affect things, but experimentation is allowed and encouraged, thanks to the fantastically implemented step-by-step undo/redo I described above.
I'm aware that I have very limited brainpower and don't mind skipping or missing out on content if it's beyond my capabilities, so I won't hold it against the game that I won't be able to finish it, let alone 3-star everything, I simply can't wrap (or fold) my head around it, and at the time of writing I couldn't even unlock the final 2 level packs.
that said, I wouldn't mind if the game had something to aid players in need somehow. I'm sure there will be guides eventually, and I don't want to take the challenge away from others by making requirements lower for 1 star (maybe 75%) or lower star requirements for level packs, but a built-in hint system could be useful, as time-consuming it must be to implement it, or a setting in the options menu to unlock every level. some other games do it too, and in this case levels aren't grouped by difficulty and achievements are for level completion only, so it could be a good compromise and would let everyone take a shot at every level.
either way, I really, really enjoyed what I played and can recommend the game to casual paper folders and origami masters alike, though I think it's a bit pricey. then again, I'm legendarily cheap and it will definitely keep you busy for quite some time. my non-existant hat's off to anyone who can do every level with 100% precision.
