[b]7/10[/b]
Clever and varied snake/sliding puzzles, but with a very frustrating boss last level.
[b]What is it:[/b] An interesting mixture of snake and sliding, thinky and fast-paced precision movement. You control one or more flowers that you must guide to the exit spots. When you press a direction key, the ones that are not already moving start growing in that direction, until they hit something and stop. Extra mechanics keep things spicy: there are insect eggs that can be destroyed for an extra challenge, fireflies that set your stalk on fire (which is dangerous, but often useful and part of the solution), wormholes (portals), timed moving obstacles, the ability to take one turn while moving, and a boss level that involves navigating mazes while dodging a random firefly bullet hell. And you are given a star rating which involves finding the shortest solution.
There are many different types of levels with these mechanics, from simple path finding with a single flower, to pathfinding with timing, choreographing a bunch of flowers and fireflies. The puzzles aren't trivial, but not too hard either, and the speed of the game can be controlled, if you don’t fancy ultra fast movement while keeping an eye on 8 different flowers.
But while I solved all the regular levels and destroyed all the eggs in a little over an hour, I have died 700 times so far on the final level, and I didn’t yet manage to beat it. The randomness of the fireflies is really unfair. They come from the right side sweeping the screen to the left, and very often when I’m moving near the right edge a firefly just suddenly appears right in my face, with no time to avoid it. Bullet hell makes sense when you have full control of your movement and can move to the side, any side, to avoid incoming projectiles. But here you’re often caught off guard by a firefly popping in right next to you, or while you cannot turn or stop, or while you’re waiting for a fire to burn and make an opening. Even without that annoyance, it is hard to keep in mind 12 fireflies, burning fires, moving obstacles, and trying to navigate the maze. And not just once, but 3 times in a row, without dying once. Or I hope it is just 3 times, I never made it past the third maze! And I really hope that having 5 digits on the death counter isn't an indication of how many deaths it takes to beat it, I'd like to keep it at 3 digits. I hate it, but I don’t think it is really out of place in this game. What I don’t like is how different and how brutally hard this is compared to the rest of the game. Instead, I think easier bosses should be added along the way, one stage only, and with a gradual increase in the number of fireflies.
I enjoyed the regular levels, so for those I would recommend this as an interesting and unique puzzle game. I am frustrated, but not that badly, by the last level, but that’s not a real showstopper. As for the rest, the game is decently made, but a bit crudely, could use a few more QoL improvements.
[b]How hard is it:[/b] Easy to moderate puzzles, frustrating boss level.
[b]How long is it:[/b] 52 regular levels and a 3-stage boss, plus navigating the level select world. Levels must be played in order, although there are a few forks in the road that allow you to skip a handful of levels.
[b]Level design:[/b] Good, and varied.
[b]Quality:[/b] Decent puzzles, some good features, fast and responsive but not enough settings. Steam cloud saves, decent achievements. Keyboard and controller supported, but a mouse is still required on the main menu. Audio settings, but no video settings, the game uses a fixed aspect ratio and pads the rest of the screen. Good to see a speed setting that gives the clumsy-fingered a chance. Basic graphics and sounds/music.
[b]Worth the price:[/b] A bit too expensive.
[b]Most positive aspect for me:[/b] Some clever puzzles.
[b]Most negative aspect for me:[/b] The bullet hell at the end.
[b]What would make it better:[/b] Full screen toggle. Keyboard support for menu navigation. More levels, including a few bosses with only one stage and increasing difficulty. More padding around the boss level to allow a little bit of time to dodge fireflies. The ability to skip levels. Better animation for the boss.
[b]Also consider:[/b]
[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2171690/Handshakes/?curator_clanid=25928931]Handshakes[/url], shrink and grow arms until the hands clasp.
[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1471960/Room_to_Grow/?curator_clanid=25928931]Room to Grow[/url], snake-inspired game with ever growing limbs.
[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]
