[b]New Townframer here! What can I do for ya?[/b]
Well, I got to Townframe later than I planned. Played the demo, bought it on release, and here I am months later finally playing it. I…get sidetracked and distracted pretty easily. No matter, I finally played it and I decided to write a review! So let’s get into it.
Townframe has a little surprise with having a little story to frame the whole game (pun intended). It turns out that a group of seven people with special skills came together to figure out a way to bring joy to people’s lives. The idea to do just that struck them as they were people watching. They came up with what they called Townframe, which is a special, magical, canvas that will display a town and allow them to change it to match the memories residents have. The group of seven traveled around using the Townframe to bring joy to those feeling nostalgic or remembering memories they had as kids and wanting to recreate how their hometown looked back then. Of course, they don’t do it forever so they eventually retire; but not without first setting up their successors. They left the Townframe to the next generation of users that they dubbed as Townframers. And guess what? You are the next Townframer!
It’s a little bit unclear whether there are multiple Townframes or just the one Townframe (personally, I think there’s only one), but this game has a cute framework. In addition, you do also get to hear little snippets from the people that you help both integrated into their request and afterwards. I quite liked reading these snippets, the writing here does well with balancing the request and giving your clients personalities and backstories. Plus, you get just enough detail to where I didn’t feel like I wanted to learn more about a certain character.
There are 32 levels here, spread across a handful of islands, where you’ll be puzzling out what your clients want based on what they’re telling you. The map serves as a way for you to go into levels and you actually do get to choose which you want to do first. Of course, not all the islands are unlocked at the beginning as you do need to complete some levels to unlock the next. I completed all levels on an island before moving onto the next one, but the next island unlocks before you complete all the levels on the previous one for those that want to jump around more. Or those that get stuck and wanting to come back to it later (but still want to do other levels and progress).
Anyway, once you select a level on the map, it’s time to put on your thinking cap. You’ll have the Townframe, which only has the town’s landscape until you click the generate town button to spawn in random buildings/trees, and the client. The client tells you a short description of what they remember their town looking like, and maybe a snippet on their own backstory, or a request that they have (which also includes recreating their hometown to what it used to look like). Gameplay here is really simple. Every building or tree can be changed with a click or holding down to bring up the selection wheel. There’s a tree selection and buildings that differ in how many floors they have and the roof type. All you need to do is change each building/tree to correspond with what the client remembers. The landscape can also play a part in the puzzle as well. For levels where the puzzle has multiple aspects to it, there is also a progress bar that fills up when you satisfy one of the requirements. It can be helpful if you’re not sure if you got something right or not.
As you progress, you may also be required to use other tools to be able to complete the Townframe. You need to buy these tools to be able to use them and solve the puzzle. You may need a magnifying glass which will allow you to find hidden objects when you look after recreating the environment or find hidden messages that serves as a clue. You can also create wind for those requesting it or when it’s needed to solve a step of the puzzle. There’s also a camera so you can snap a picture for those that want one and a listening device as it turns out all the different buildings and the trees have a distinctive sound. Some clients specifically remember the sounds their town had or remember what businesses their town had relative to other buildings. So you have to figure out where they’re placed. Just make sure to remember that the progress bar includes when you need to take a photo and you sometimes need to use the zoom on the camera and listening device tools. I know there were two or three levels where I had no idea what I was missing…only to re-read and figure out I forgot they wanted a photo.
Once you complete the puzzle, and thus satisfy the request, the client will also tell you something that’s related to it. Like a snippet of their past or why they requested a Townframe. The client will also reward you with coins! It depends on how many, but usually the easy levels only give you one with the trickiest levels giving out four coins. The trickier or more involved a level is, the more coins you’ll be rewarded (with a couple exceptions). I found the reward pretty on point for the levels here. Plus, you have enough to buy the next tool by the time you get to a level that requires it.
The difficulty here is pretty good and all the puzzles were pretty clever. Townframe does a good job at easing you into it and while I don’t think any of the puzzles were hard, there sure were a good handful of tricky ones in here! Whether it’s just figuring out what you need to do or trying to parse through how the town used to look like based on the description the client is telling you. Some clients are pretty cryptic, to the point where they’re almost like riddles. As well as there being some pretty creative puzzles here.
Luckily, there is a hint system here. Every three levels you complete, you get a hint that you can use when you get stuck. This will give you a drawing as a hint. I was stuck a couple times, but man did I feel dumb after seeing how obvious the answer was. I also appreciated how if all you need to do is to increase/decrease the size of the camera or listener selection area it’ll send an arrow pointing at the controls.
I don’t have any negatives really, other than I wished there were more puzzles and my game did crash once (not sure why). Also, I hate the sound of someone eating so I heavily disliked the building that made that sound (since it had the restaurant tag).
Lastly, the soundtrack and art style puts a pretty bow on this cozy game. The soundtrack is calming that gave an almost small countryside town vibe to the various towns you’re recreating with the Townframe. The sound effects were also all pretty nice (aside from the restaurant and hospital building sounds). The art style was cute as well. It’s simple, colorful, and allowed for a lot of different town designs as well as different designs for your clients. I also did like how the environment slightly moved along with your mouse, kind of giving it the impression that the Townframe has a slight 3D effect in person.
[h1]Verdict[/h1]
I liked Townframe, so much that I wished there was more. The game is cute, cozy, and short but sweet. It has nice writing, cute visuals, does well with easing you in and balancing the puzzle difficulty, and having both clever and tricky puzzles. Even I was quite surprised with how different puzzles were to one another and the story snippets you get to hear. I definitely recommend Townframe to anyone that likes puzzle games and looking for a short experience (or don’t mind it being short) when they have an hour or two to spare.
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