I bought this and the developer’s other game, Puzzle Box, within a few days of their release, but wanted to play for a few hours at least before reviewing. Puzzle Box also contains a version of these photo puzzles, although only the full version here in Photo Puzzles HD allows players to create custom puzzles from their own photos.
[u]Update[/u]: In response to a question I tried this out and it was very quick and easy. It took less than a minute to select one of my own photos and for it to be converted into a puzzle. The only file type recognised was jpg (possibly others too, but I only have jpg and png photos on this laptop). There are 105 slots provided for creating custom puzzles.
* Family-friendly, suitable for even very young children
* Nice, clean UI; easy to navigate and user-friendly
* Vibrant colours, pleasant aesthetics
* Daily puzzles, a new one for each day of the month
Display options are windowed (small, medium, large) and full screen. The game initially launched in medium which I changed to full screen, and my choice is remembered each time the game is launched.
The images are all high quality stock photographs, covering a range of subjects such as food, animals, countries, seasons, plants, and even some quirkier fare such as hot air balloons.
Sound effects and music can be switched off, but I kept those on as the game contains a varied selection of pleasant, peaceful piano tracks. The current track continues playing even after completing a level and entering the menus, which I think is a really nice touch.
There is currently no indication of autosaving on the store page but I tested it out and it works flawlessly. I'm focusing on the flower puzzles at the moment and my half-finished puzzle can be accessed easily in the bottom left corner under ‘Recently Played’.
Cloud saving is not currently supported. This is not mentioned on the store page at the time of writing, so for the purpose of this review I installed this on my PC as well to check. Lack of cloud saving isn't an issue for me, as I play this on my laptop only, but it would be a useful feature to have for people who'd like to switch between computers and continue playing from where they left off.
There are three different game modes as well as options to increase/decrease difficulty. So far I've only played the beginner mode (9 x 6, tile swap), but other modes allow rotating and splitting the tiles. It's even possible to add photo effects, such as glass, which I think is a fun idea.
The sample image can be resized using three presets: small, medium, large, or concealed altogether.
There is also a handy counter which displays the number of tiles filled versus number of tiles remaining. There is also a timer, but that can be ignored if you just want to relax and play at your own pace.
The default for the cute cartoon character mascot is a knight but he can be swapped for a boy/girl/dog etc.
Currently the game only has in-game achievements, although the developer has said he would like to implement Steam achievements too. Personally, I don’t mind either way. If a game has Steam achievements then I like to get all of them, but if it doesn’t, that’s also fine.
There are some quality of life features I’d like to see implemented, such as:
* An option to pause mid-game; although this isn’t a major issue since the game autosaves, it’d be nice to have all the same
* A tick-mark or something to indicate which puzzles have been completed
[strike]* An arrow to go to the next available puzzle (instead of the current option of Play Again)[/strike]
[b]Edit: An option to go to the next puzzle has now been added.[/b]
The developer is very responsive to feedback and suggestions, so I expect these features will be added to the game in the near future.
So far I have played for three hours and haven’t encountered a single bug or any other issue. This game was clearly made with a great deal of love and care. It contains a generous selection of puzzles and options, and offers exceptionally good value for players in terms of time, money and enjoyment.
I wholeheartedly recommend this.
