doodle- and physics-based mobile port that could've used a more pc-friendly ui. draw things in the designated area to achieve various goals, like moving or destroying things. everything has to be drawn without lifting the pencil, as it were, because as soon as you let go, the doodle falls and the level is either finished or failed, in some cases requiring a manual reset. the last doodle's silhouette remains in the drawing area, makes it easier to make adjustments, but it'd be even better if there was a grid to measure and scale. [b]some timing is involved[/b] with moving parts and such. they keep reappearing or coming back but in a few cases it would've been better if they only showed up when the drawing was done, which they do on many other occasions.
[b]300 puzzles in 30 packs[/b], dailies are chosen from these too. all 10 stages are available within a pack that unlocks with a certain number of stars, one per solved level. 234 is enough for everything but the second batch only opens after doing all the levels in the first. bit weird. [b]no level numbers anywhere and completed packs aren't marked.[/b] no tooltips either, gotta click everything to see if there's something unfinished. and [b]being a subpar mobile port, level select is a tiny area in the middle of the screen[/b], whether it's level packs or a list of all of them. should've filled the screen properly to avoid all the scrolling.
level completion rewards xp to level up, no idea to what end. there's a leaderboard outside the game, ranks player xp, absolutely pointless. the $100 for solving a level can be spent on [b]hints and decorations[/b]. 20 bucks to highlight the area for the solution, another 60 for the solution itself. pretty steep and [b]the full solution is often inaccurate, really frustrating[/b]. takes many attempts to succeed, or just give the ♥♥♥♥ up. leaving a level doesn't remove hints, but to save money, an option could've been provided to go for the solution immediately.
as for decorations, each pack is represented by a building or facility in squiggletown, add whatever you want in the available spots. level select being ♥♥♥♥, I put something with a green background for finished packs and grey for unfinished, picking an option with as many windows or whatever as I had unsolved levels.
cartoony presentation, jazzy soundtrack, mouse and keyboard both work for menu navigation. mouse wheel barely does anything, hold mouse to draw, can't click to start, mouse around, then click to finish. the few undocumented hotkeys are 'r' for reset and esc for the pause menu. can't quit the level there, it's a different icon without a hotkey and it goes back to the main menu. no link to level select either, so trying a different level is more finicky than it should be.
separate volumes and a bunch of languages are the only settings, available anytime, plus you can change the line color and reset progress, even though a new game with a separate save can be started too. alt+enter for resizable windowed mode, an in-game toggle and resolution options would've been more elegant. in-game achievements screen, a bunch are for tricky or creative solutions, not just progress and insane grind, like the one for 300 dailies or 168 hours of runtime. the stats screen has no scrollbar and arrows don't work for some reason, so mobiley dragging is the way to go.
at $5 it's a less overpriced mobile port than many others and in many ways done better too. not really up my alley, and while a lot of it is draw whatever, it'll do, [b]I was often struggling on how to pull things off, even after looking them up or using hints[/b]. not an exact science, this one, so could only do 240 levels, most of which I needed assistance with, and for the rest even that wasn't enough. good stuff though, plenty to do, creative and fun situations, not too pricey, so [b]recommendable for people with a lot more patience, but only on sale due to mobile ui issues and a ♥♥♥♥ hint system[/b].
