Puzzle Spy International

🔸 EXPECTATIONS before demo: a compendium of puzzle minigames. 🔸 EXPECTATIONS after demo: a words/crosswords game. 🔸 REALITY: a playing-with-words/cryptic puzzles game. 🔷 I (not too long ago) learned that what I use to call 'playing with words' or 'words play' is actually called 'cryptic puzzles' or 'puzzle-hunt' in the English world; that is playing with the words' meanings and/or letters to create new ones, and Puzzle Spy International (PSI) is all about that. 🔹 In structure, it presents an unrelated sequence of word puzzles, with short visual novel-style dialogues/interludes that carry over the narrative. Each puzzle is solve in a different way: some require logic, others letter transpositions. They're all unique and no mechanic is used twice. 🔹 When it come to being cryptic, it goes all-in on that, so it is very closely tight to the understanding, knowledge and proficiency of the English language. If you're a native speaker or highly proficient AND enjoy word games, PSI is a game that you'll probably enjoy. 🔹 On the contrary, if you're not (I am not!) the game might feel too difficult, or cryptic in this case, at times. Fortunately, PSI accounts for that and includes one of the best hints systems I've ever seen in a puzzle game (not an easy feat). 🔹 The hints system ranges from vague to the straight solution, but the best is that it takes well >10 steps to get there, so there is plenty of room for the game to give you just the right push and keep going on your own. It shows that PSI cares and wants the player to reach the end. 🔹 Regarding difficulty, since it relies on language knowledge so much, it is very personal. I found some puzzles easy, others way too enigmatic. You might find them between 'way too easy' and 'just about right' if you're better at English than me (I'm IELTS 8 btw!), and it took me ~5h to complete. 💠 Finally a mention to the excellent art and music, perfectly setting the mood for what the story wants to transmit. If you're good at English and enjoy playing with words, PSI is so much for you. Otherwise, despite being a jewel waiting to be stolen, you might not enjoy it fully. POSITIVES: 🙂+ 😄+ art and music 😍+ hints system NEGATIVES: 🙁- unbalanced difficulty 😠- 😡- [quote]For more puzzle game reviews, news and everything puzzle-related, follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/25928931-Puzzle-Lovers/]Puzzle Lovers[/url] and check out our [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/puzzlelovers]Steam group[/url].[/quote]

a couple of the puzzles are interesting and fun to solve, but the game is absurdly short. the trailers and screenshots on the store page basically show the entire game. there's literally only one puzzle in the whole game that is not shown, and it's a pretty trivial one. it's the second last puzzle in the game and it's just an even easier version of a puzzle that you already encountered earlier. most of my playtime is because I started the game late at night and then left it running while I slept. the actual game is maybe like 2 or 3 hours of content. buy a variety puzzle magazine from an actual real world store instead; you'll get better puzzle variety and way more content.

Quite tricky puzzle game with some truly great puzzles (and some not too great, since they reuse the same idea two times, and the second beeing much easier, really feels like they ran out of time and just threw in something) but out of the 11 puzzles 9 where good and more or less tricky. You will most likely have a huge advantage if you play crosswords, because a lot of clues and solutions feel like typica crossword clues and also rely on a fairly good grasp at the english language and semi obscure words that might not come up that often (do you know what plié and torus are for example). Every puzzle has some form of language mechanics and while I like it a lot, that also has the disadvantage that it would be impossible to translate without redoing the entire game for each language. So keep that in mind if this looks interesting and a translation is probably not happening. Other than that, great puzzle game with a great 60:s style in the art and cheesy (in a good way) tongue-in-cheek writing that makes fun of spy movies in general.

This game is a vehicle for word puzzles. So, if that's your thing, definitely worth the time! However, I found myself frustrated by a few puzzles that seemed to try for crossword-level logic, but didn't really have the crossword property of being able to approach the answer from multiple directions. I'm particularly thinking of the French accent phrase puzzle--I can SPEAK French, but there were some phrases that I still just didn't know. So, I had to brute force those answers, because there was no real way to reach them otherwise (the "other direction" was spotty, and only useful if you found all the phrases around the one you didn't know... which wasn't the case in my case). Not fun, and even though the game makes it clear that hints aren't penalized, it decreased the fun if you feel like you need a hint because the puzzle isn't fair. If I don't know a word or phrase, I simply don't know it, and there should be alternate methods of reaching the solution other than asking for hints. The hint system, ultimately, becomes a crutch for both the player and the game designer, and neither party wants that. Not my style of puzzles, is my personal opinion. Crossword lovers will disagree, I think, as this is right up that ally. Cute story, though, and my bi heart enjoys that you can flirt it up with MOST of your contacts, lady or lad. :3

Music sounds like 60's/Bond crossover, it works, but it's on repeat. Animation okay. Puzzles, I don't think they could have made this harder if they tried. [b]Obscure [/b]clues. Hint's are not hint's, they are [i]instructions[/i] with the last one giving the answer. I did not do well in French in school. (Puzzle 5) I don't know what I was expecting, but it was not this, not recommended.

Some well-crafted puzzles, but really, only a couple of hours of well-crafted puzzles. It was all over way too quickly. Recommended on its face, but you can find better value for the cost.

I'll be honest, I wasn't really enjoying the game at first when I playing alone on my Steam Deck. It very much wasn't built for that device, even with the keyboard + mouse option. The first two puzzles for me were fine, but the third went into the territory for feeling really tedious and laborious. It was around then when I decided to hop in VC with my friends (they were already playing something else) and I decided to ask them for some help. One by one, someone would look at the puzzle and start getting really invested. And eventually, we got everyone playing and trying to solve the puzzles, even someone who I thought would be the last person to ever touch a puzzle game. We played for about 4 hours until finishing the game past midnight, and this might be one of my favorite puzzle games now. There's probably already a term that's coined for this type of game, but as someone unfamiliar with it, I would consider Puzzle Spy International as a "party puzzler" game. I use the word "party" very intentionally as opposed to "multiplayer/co-op" because the game seems specifically built to be played with a group of friends, either on a TV in the same room, or virtually over screen sharing. For each puzzle, all information is present on the screen at the same time, as there's no separate areas or menus to navigate around. This is really useful because the puzzles often have a lot of parts that can be solved in parallel, so each person or group can focus on a different part of the puzzle, similar to an escape room. The puzzles also require real world knowledge, in the realm of vocabulary and sometimes geography. None of my friends and I had enough familiarity with this knowledge to solve the puzzles individually, but playing together meant that each of us were able to fill the gaps of knowledge that others had. And when none of us knew what information we were missing, we likely had enough details surrounding the puzzles that we search it up, and be able to identify the solution when we found it, which had the feeling of solving an ARG. Worst case, the hints are helpful when you're really stump and I like how don't give too much away. But my favorite part of this game is after breezing through most of the puzzle, and we're left trying to figure out the last few pieces. Everyone is focused on the same few parts and trying their best. We had a lot of funny moments when someone, either sarcastically or really earnestly, provides a terrible solution. But eventually, the solutions clicks into someone's head, and we get that "Holy sh*t, you're a genius!" moment. I have never played a puzzle game quite like this, but I'm really glad I did. To be honest, I've been so busy as of recent, that I haven't found much time or motivation to play with my friends. This was a really good excuse to be able to play with them again, and remind me what I've been missing for a while. To the devs, thanks for that. I first heard of this game because one of devs were chatting to me in-person, and they were incredibly nice and sweet. Being able to make a game like this in your own spare time is incredibly inspiring, and deceptively difficult. And some of these solutions are so insanely clever, like the [spoiler]airport puzzle[/spoiler], to the point where we were wondering how anyone could have came up with that. [h2]Conclusion[/h2] If you're someone who lives and breathes playing puzzles, and don't mind the tedium of being committed to puzzles repeatedly (like someone who plays Sudoku every day) I think you can have a good time playing alone. But if you're someone who has a casual interest in puzzle games, get some friends that would join you, and either arrange a party or just hop onto VC together. I think you'll have a great time! If you're skeptical, the demo might be a good reference point, and features its own unique puzzle from what I heard!

This game made me feel like an idiot because I dont know if it just wasnt clicking but I couldnt even figure out how to even start the puzzles without at least one hint first. Overall just really frustrating and i uninstalled it after four puzzles of frustration. I love puzzle games but this just isnt for me.

Great game if you want an introduction to puzzle hunts or if you enjoy puzzle hunts. Puzzled Pint level.

A brilliant puzzle game - I'm a long-time puzzle lover and yet each and every puzzle here felt unique and managed to surprise me in unexpected ways. Feels like it was done by people who truly get what makes puzzles fun and tricky without being obtusely difficult. All of that wrapped in a gorgeous package - beautiful art, fun/ny characters, groan-inducing cute puns - what's not to like?!