[u]In short:[/u] This is a very polished logistic puzzle game. The gameplay is quite solid and rather unique, with only a few questionable design decisions here and there. The price seems about fair for the 1 hour and 45 minutes of unique content you get with the base game. I was also quite impressed by how well and quick the developers reacted to community feedback, which is rare but very welcome (this used to be a negative review, before a substantial patch came out and fixed my main complaint).
[u]In long:[/u] The game is played with mouse-only and the fundamental [b][u]mechanic[/u][/b] consists of re-arranging circles on a grid into square patterns to clear them. Click a circle and it follows your mouse, at which point you can add other circles to form a chain following your cursor much like in the game of Snake. As soon as you let go, the game resolves any squares and you can start to pick up other circles. Each of the 80 vanilla levels consists of various obstacles and has a pre-determined amount of circles you need to clear with 2x2 or 3x3 arrangements. This gives you two goals: Transport enough circles to one place and do not resolve any squares prematurely (e.g. a 2x2 square on a level with 9 circles). Soon more mechanics are added: Different colors of circles, tiles you can move/rotate/swap with a button, static circles to build around, clocks that move tiles after you've made a certain number of moves, etc.
Overall the game is of moderate [b][u]difficulty[/u][/b]. There is a bunch of very easy levels, but also rather complex levels, with lots of moving parts, where you can easily form wrong squares accidentally. It is a bit annoying, that there is no way to undo moves. Every mistake means restarting the level from scratch, which adds a little tension and (rarely) frustration. If you want to take a positive view: The game definitely requires planning ahead and being aware of the whole level!
There is also a speed-running achievement (beat the game in under 60 minutes) which is definitely not for me, but I can clearly see the ineffciencies in my gameplay that bar me from reaching that target. To be honest, it strikes me as simply learning the solutions by heart. As usual with puzzle games, there's very little skill involved in repeating known solutions. It's a bit of an odd inclusion. The same can be said about the scoring mechanic. With long snakes and a little preparation you can form multiple squares in one go, which gives additional points. Except that the points are utterly meaningless and inconsequential. There is no score per level, encouraging you to improve. Score is just an endless counter you add to at the end of each level. Going through the trouble of forming multiple sqares for additional points gives the same outcome as if you had replayed any level, since the counter goes up infinitely.
I want to stress that the game has received great [b][u]post-release support[/u][/b]. Even a core mechanic has been massively reworked due to community feedback: Clocks used to be automated timers, which were a source of lots of stress and great frustration in later levels, tarnishing the otherwise relaxing puzzle atmosphere. With the rework the altered mechanic (understandably) feels a bit odd (as it requires you to sometimes move back and forth just to advance clocks), but I like it a whole lot more. Quaddro 2 is now consistently a very nice and chill puzzle game. Along the update a free level pack was released, adding 10 levels and roughly 15 minutes of new content on top of the 80 pre-made vanilla levels. I'm still a bit on the fence, but the level pack definitely brought the over-all unique content (~1:45 hours of playtime) very close to where I feel comfortable recommending buying this game at full price. A level generator, even just for basic layouts would have been a nice addition, but on sale the price is more than adequate. I have not checked out any DLC yet.
The game is very competently made and nicely polished. The [b][u]presentation[/u][/b] is solid. I like the visuals, sound effects are decent, even the music is pretty good. And the [b][u]technical implementation[/u][/b] is excellent! The menus and options are simply great. The game has exemplary volume sliders (master, music, effects). You can toggle windowed mode and select from a wide range of resolutions. The level selection menu, as little as you will probably use it, is actually one of the best I've ever seen. I have no complaints at all in these departments, which is quite rare.
In [b][u]conclusion[/u][/b] I think this is a smart and enjoyable puzzle game that encourages calm thinking. The active support by the developers has impressed me greatly (and turned this from a negative to a positive review). Full price is about adequate for 105 minutes of unique content, but on sale for -40% the price is very good. If you are looking for a new, somewhat innovative 2D puzzle game, this is the place to be.
