[b]TL;DR:[/b] Rayland is an alright puzzle game about redirecting laser beams using mirrors to light up lamps. It is less than two hours long, but it can keep you hooked for that duration, so I would say it deserves its low asking price (1,69€/1.99$). However, don't expect anything really unique or interesting, or you'll be sorely disappointed. Plus, despite its meager price, I still think there are better choices in its price range (like Save Room - Organization Puzzle).
[b]Rating: 6/10[/b]
[h1]Full review[/h1]
[b]A barebones puzzle game[/b]
Rayland is a simplistic puzzle game in which the player's goal is to redirect laser beams using mirrors in order to light up all lamps on the given map (there are 42 in total). While this is a really simple concept, many things could have been done with it. Just look at what Jonathan Blow achieved with The Witness, which is essentially just a game about drawing lines, or to mention something similar, just look at the old Darkest Fear trilogy (a JAVA mobile game series), where redirecting light using mirrors was also a key gameplay element.
Unfortunately, Rayland doesn't do much with its core gameplay idea. There aren't really any variables that could spice up the gameplay and make puzzles more interesting. All you can do is change the position and orientation of the mirrors on the playing field and cross two lasers to create an angular laser (which will be an essential mechanic in the second half of the game). It's a shame because I can easily think of many ways how the game could have been improved (e.g., with fixed location/fixed orientation mirrors, different types of lasers that can't affect each other, etc.).
[b]Filler content and improper difficulty curve[/b]
Because of the game's lack of variety, naturally, a player would try to find some depth in how the game systematically builds onto its previous puzzles and the player's previously acquired knowledge. In other words, a player would expect at least a good difficulty curve with the small content that is offered here. Sadly, the first 16 levels (so nearly half of the game) are so easy you can solve them in two seconds, and at least the first 10 levels are basically the same levels with no significant logical/puzzle element differentiating them. To be honest, I've never seen this type of filler in any puzzle game I've ever played.
[b]Angular lasers[/b]
Previously, I mentioned that redirecting lasers angularly in the second half of the game will be an increasingly important gameplay mechanic. The problem is that first, it f*cked with my head so much that for most levels, I mostly solved puzzles by relying on my intuition rather than fully grasping/understanding how actually to utilize this mechanic to solve puzzles. So in a way, I wasn't really thinking in the second half of the game either (which would be the whole point of a puzzle game), except for the last few levels, where I finally started to understand this mechanic. It would have helped if I could have examined puzzles after intuitively solving them, but the game automatically jumps to the next puzzle after completing the one before it.
[b]Lack of focus[/b]
Somewhat surprisingly, even though this game is rather short, I still feel it's somewhat unfocused. In my opinion, a good puzzle game should be clear and minimalistic both from a visual and gameplay standpoint, meaning there should be no distracting visual or interactable elements that could affect the difficulty of the given puzzle. Only those interactive elements should be part of a puzzle that the player will have to use, and only the puzzle and nothing else should determine how challenging the puzzle actually is.
However, Rayland had many puzzles in its second part, where there were many more mirrors than necessary, and it was also strange how there were randomly some levels in the second half where I did not have to use angular lasers even though the whole second half of the game was so focused on this mechanic. I just don't like this kind of inconsistency.
[b]Some technical problems[/b]
I would also like to mention that even though it's a simplistic game, I've encountered some technical problems. To start, it doesn't have ultrawide support, and I wasn't able to grab screenshots using Nvidia ShadowPlay. More specifically, all screenshots were just black, meaning I wasted my time screenshotting late-game puzzle solutions.
Aside from these, I encountered two gameplay-specific problems. Once the highlighting square disappeared and I was unable to select a square in order to be able to move a mirror there. I had to restart the level. The other problem is more general, as I found it harder to select certain squares with my mouse throughout the game due to the inconsistency between the camera's perspective and the game's playing field.
[b]Conclusion[/b]
My review may sound quite negative, but the thing is, this game is still entertaining enough that it's worth its low asking price. It's just that so much more could have been done with it with just a little bit more effort. Just look at Save Room - Organization Puzzle. That game is barely longer than this one, but it had much higher quality content overall. In that game, every puzzle kept building on the puzzle or puzzles before it (and this way, also on the player's previously acquired knowledge).
So it had a great difficulty curve. But aside from this, it also had some cool ideas that helped to keep the gameplay fresh and the puzzles more interesting (like the combinable items that changed the way how a player looked at the puzzles. It was also a game with a simple concept (inventory management), but it did so much more with it than Rayland with an arguably even better concept (better in the sense that it allows for more creativity and ideas to be implemented).
