Teku

[b]teku[/b] is one of the many [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1046030/]islanders[/url]-likes, the common hex-based variety for free this time, which is less common. place tiles strategically for maximum points until you screw up or run out, game over, well done, try again. [b]2 game modes[/b] are available. in [u]classic[/u] there's a limited number of tiles, gotta place them all to finish, but only a few placement options are offered for each. [u]challenge[/u] unlocks more tiles as you gain more points and they can be placed anywhere, as long as they touch another tile, so that's in fact the classic and less challenging gameplay. they could've thought more about the names and should've explained modes on level select [i]before[/i] starting one, not only through tutorial messages and on the store page. [b]5 locations with 5 levels each[/b], only the first location and all its contents are unlocked at the start. stars open the rest, awarded for reaching a set amount of points in both modes, so 2 stars per stage, 10 per location. [b]special rules[/b] are applied sometimes, like a certain tile or having two separate islands granting more points, placing something creating two instances to maintain symmetry, and even gravity affecting placed stuff (these are neat). [b]tiles are randomized[/b], as one would expect, so there's some replayability, both for fun and due to rng messing things up. simple but good enough pixel graphics, tooltips on mouseover but they can bug out and remain on-screen after a level ends or while playing. [b]only dragging works, can't click to pick up, click to place[/b], not very accessible. nor does it work flawlessly, which can cause problems in classic mode with limited placement options and big 'hitboxes'. it's easy to accidentally put something in the wrong place and [b]no undo[/b] makes it even more frustrating, but levels don't last long, so it just about gets a pass. speaking of accessibility, there's [b]a choice of fonts for better readability[/b] and mouse wheel also works on level select, so the dev isn't totally oblivious, like many others. yet there's no back button on some screens, just lazily click anywhere to escape. [b]no mid-level saving[/b] would be an immediate dealbreaker but not the most annoying thing in this case. still, no reason not to save whenever the player wants or has to quit. only a single volume setting but there's no music, so it's fine. multiple profiles, so more than one person can compete on the [b]online leaderboards[/b] from one pc. there are a couple of languages and toggles for always showing the score on tiles and the grid, otherwise it's hard to tell where the level ends. mouseovering the progress bar or score display does the same. would be good to have an on-screen tile score toggle, going back to the menu to change it is too tedious. and again on the flipside, [b]the full screen toggles is bugged[/b]. I could only run the game in a window, restarting and editing the config file proved to be fruitless as well, then after a few levels it suddenly started working when I tried it one more time. [b]doesn't run on win7 either, despite the minimum requirements stated on the store page.[/b] shouldn't be an issue for most but come on. [b]I liked the various rules mixing things up and found the whole thing a lot more difficult than expected.[/b] took some doing to unlock the 4th level pack and didn't have the patience to keep trying for the last, let alone all the stars. feels like [b]absolute perfection is necessary for the star on many levels[/b], which is a bit much when everything relies on rng. so depending on luck and patience it can entertain/frustrate for a while or longer. free is free but it's not an automatic pass, and while this one could also use more work, it's okay overall. with a tiny bit of post-release support it could've been a stronger recommendation.