Puzzle Spy International

It's a puzzle game, so first up: the puzzles. There's a good variety, so you're not doing the same thing over and over. I found the difficulty fluctuated a lot, but my brain was probably just in tune with some puzzles more than others. The hint system is great for when you're stuck on something. I gave in and used it a few times, and it did a good job of slowly revealing layers of information rather than outright providing an answer. The artwork is fantastic - I love the style, and it adds so much charm to what could otherwise be a pretty cold, logical experience. I might have to steal some of the backgrounds to use as desktop wallpapers. The narrative is good too, giving some fun context to the puzzles and leading you through a game that, to me, was just the right length. I thought the script was a bit lacking at times, but not enough to detract from the overall experience in any real way. Definitely worth playing if you like puzzles!

Already 7 hours in and I'm only halfway through. Difficult puzzles, but I'm enjoying trying to work it out, with alot of help from hints

The game as a whole is quite short but the puzzles take time and thought. If you like puzzle agent and professor layton you'll enjoy this. a nice light low stakes way to pass time.

I wish it had been longer-- not because it wasn't worth the price, but because I was enjoying it so much! * Each puzzle is different-- half the fun is trying to determine how each puzzle works. (I don't think any of the puzzles were significantly more or less difficult than the demo, which is well worth playing in its own right.) * I liked that it had the option to check partial answers for correctness. I could just turn on the checks for a moment to find typos and reassure myself I hadn't made a silly mistake, then off again. * The hints are gentle and gradual. Again there's no penalty for using them, but there aren't THAT many puzzles so well worth minimizing hint use. My critiques are minor: * Not clear to me what the optional flirting achieves - you rarely talk to someone more than once. So there don't seem to be relationships to develop, it just changes the conversation a little. But maybe something I missed? (I am missing one hidden Steam achievement, this might be why.) * For somes puzzles you can figure out the overall answer before solve all intermediate answers. That's good puzzle design. But the game immediately leaves the puzzle without letting you solve the rest. And there's no returning to incomplete puzzles, unless you reload a saved game. So if you want to fill in every blank don't type that final answer until you are ready to move on. * Linear-- you only solve one puzzle at a time. If someone got stuck they might appreciate switching to a different puzzle for a while? But the game does reward you with a little more plot after you solve every puzzle, so there is a good side. * I can't be specific without spoilers, but: there are two somewhat related puzzles and by putting the harder one early in the game, I think it made the one later in the game too easy. (But difficulty can be subjective.)

I bought this game as a time waster that I would start, walkway from, then come back to when I had time to waste. Is that was is was NO, I couldn't stop playing this game!!! The first night I stayed up till 3 in the morning because I wanted to just get one more piece of the puzzle I was working on. Finally had to sleep, the next day I couldn't stop thinking about it and it's puzzles. So I did the responsible thing and dropped what I was doing to play this game. When it came to end I was craving more. I loved the complexity of the puzzles and how a "solve" turned into the next puzzle. Overall HIGHLY recommend

Delightful puzzles all around, playtime of about four hours, though it could have been even shortly if I was on my game. Well worth the price for my tastes, as everything is well-crafted.

Cute little game -- playtime is pretty short if you're already familiar with puzzle hunt-style puzzles though.