The Core by developer and publisher Electric Machine Games—PC (Steam) preview written by Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
Showing posts with label Puzzle Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puzzle Game. Show all posts
Meta puzzle game The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time out today on Steam!
‘Tunic meets Inscryption’ in this fourth wall-breaking mystery about the greatest game that never was'
Sacramento, California, May 28th, 2026 - Coin Drop Games and Glootschke Games have today launched their original meta puzzle game, The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time, on Steam. Deduce puzzles and solve secrets behind this greatest game that never was!
Watch the The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRSeDPOWSoM
The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time
(TRotEotGRPGoAT for short) is a deduction Puzzle game set in the last
hour of a lost non-existent 90s JRPG complete with original manual,
director's commentary, and clips of an unreleased amateur documentary,
all used to uncover the secret at the heart of it all: "What is the
Greatest RPG of All Time?”
Players start at level 99, seeing the conclusion to story arcs they were
never present for, heroic sacrifices by side characters they never knew
existed, all while uncovering the meta-narrative of why they've never
heard of this game, why they can only play the last hour, and why it's
being remade in the first place.
“Have you ever seen a trailer and thought ‘nothing
could ever possibly live up to that’ only to be proven right by the
underwhelming finale product? That’s the beauty of leaving things open
to the imagination, and with The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG
of All Time we wanted to ignite that spark of tantalizing potential by
only showing a snippet of a game you could only dream of,” said Lead Designer Lucas Immanuel. “This
also gave us the opportunity to create a fourth wall-breaking meta
narrative puzzle game about piecing together clues about something that
never existed, yet is all too easy to imagine. We hope people enjoy
piecing together the game that leads to this climactic conclusion!”
Features:
- A Fully featured RPG Battle System
- Complex deduction puzzles
- Beautiful 3D/pixel hybrid visuals
- Full-motion video
- A mystery at its core
What critics are saying:
- “I love the audacity of the project” – Stephen Totilo of Game File
- “brazen nose-hooker of a head turner of a game that does exist” – Nic Reuben of Rock Paper Shotgun
- “Eventually, I will remember the... title for this game” – Jill Grodt of The Indie Informer
For more information on The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time:
Wishlist on: Steam
Official site: https://www.whatistherpg.com/
X: https://x.com/TRotEotGRPGoaT
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lucasimmanuel.bsky.social
About Coin Drop Games:
Coin Drop Games is an indie developer making genre-defying experiences that surprise, delight, and intrigue.
Article by: Susan N.
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is Coming to Steam
NIS America Reveals the First Screenshots of the Cozy Puzzle Game
We are excited to share that the 2D side-scrolling platforming adventure The Liar Princess and The Blind Prince will be coming to Steam early this year.
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince follows the tale of two lonely hearts brought together through a mutual misunderstanding. In it, you control the wolf, disguised as a princess who guides the blind prince through a perilous forest in search of the witch capable of restoring his sight. The forest is home to a number of hostile creatures intent on ending your journey prematurely, as well as hazardous traps that put the prince in danger.
Switch between wolf and princess form to dispatch your foes and guide the prince carefully as a princess to ensure his safety, in search of a fairytale ending.
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince originally released worldwide on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on February 12, 2019.
About The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince
Deep in the forest, a solitary wolf sings. Charmed by this beautiful voice, a curious prince follows its song only to find and startle the wolf, who blinds him. Together, they embark on a journey to restore his sight. But every gift has a price in this storybook tale of love and loss.
Unleash Your Inner Monster: Transform at will from a princess into a wolf to guide the blind prince towards a cure. Weave through the dangerous forest, but be careful...the forest is no place for a blind prince.
Brute Strength Meets Sharp Wit: Various obstacles will require the wolf's strength, and others will require the princess's wit. With so many traps and perilous hurdles that await, can the two make it safely to their final destination?
Lost Pages from a Forgotten Tale: With each delicate petal comes a fragment of memories shared by the wolf and the prince. Collect them along your journey and paint a vivid story of tragedy, love, and loss.
Title: The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince
Release: Coming Early 2026
Platforms: PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
Genre: Adventure, Platformer
Players: 1
Text Language: English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Korean
Audio Language: Japanese
Rating: ESRB: Everyone 10+
Publisher: NIS America, Inc.
Developer/Licensor: Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Article by: Susan N.
A Time-travel Puzzle Game Demo Release of Chrono Weaver VR
A Single-player Co-Op Time-travel Puzzle Game on Quest and PCVR
Chrono Weaver is a VR game that answers the question, "Is
it possible to play a co-op game by yourself?" Enter a mysterious
science facility floating through space and solve mind-bending puzzles
using a slingshot, physics, and time-travel.
Solving a puzzle with copies of yourself
In our game you play as a test-subject starting a new job, with
unknown origins and a simple goal: Smash the Data Disk. Guiding you
along the way is a flying robot named Yoto, a quirky character who
manages your journey and helps make sure you don't get too lost along
the way.
The gameplay loop has a vibe similar to Portal, going from puzzle to puzzle with short bursts of story and mystery in between. The game teaches as you go along, so there is no true tutorial, instead it grows in difficulty, introducing mechanics and weaving them together creating exciting and challenging puzzles. Other games that are similar to it in VR are The Last Clockwinder, We Are One, and Transpose VR.
Time going in reverse
Features
- Single Player
- On Quest 2 and above, as well as PCVR
- Rated E for Everyone
- Play though the first 11 puzzles of the game and experience the story that gets you there
- Demo is between 30 minutes and an hour long
- A world filled with intractable physics objects built for VR
- Physics hands with force pull to make picking things up easy
- A slingshot built into your hand for solving puzzles
- The ability to rewind time and work with yourself to solve puzzles designed for co-op
- Masks that you can put on to customize your play-through
- A companion Yoto who guides you on your journey
Links
- Play the demo on App Lab: https://www.meta.com/experiences/6290209311090843/
- Play the demo on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2053370/Chrono_Weaver/
About Us
Alexander Soustek (Alex) and I (Richard Sinai-Yunker) are Ivory Crow Games. We met 15 odd years ago in highschool and immediately started building everything we could imagine from game engines to Rube Goldberg machines. We continued making video games together as a hobby until two and half years ago we finally decided to give it a real try and form our very own company. We have spent every minute since then working on Chrono Weaver and are so excited to have finally released the demo.
Article by: Susan N.
Botany Manor - PC Review
Botany Manor by developer Balloon Studios and publisher Whitethorn Games—PC (Steam) review written by Valerie with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Yay! A puzzle game fell into my lap recently and I'm here to say I did finish to 'The End' and roll credits!
In Botany Manor, you are Arabella Greene of a long line of Greenes and a retired botanist. In this puzzler game you play in first person view. No you don't have an actual hand in view to pick up and inspect items, just the key commands and click of the mouse.
I am impressed by the puzzles which gave me a feel like I was in a derivative of a Myst game (another all time fave series of mine). Even though the puzzles were fast to get through, I still had an enjoyable time reading and learning about the plants in England.
You start the game in the conservatory where you are given a book to record
your research. You seek out the seeds, clues, and locations where they are
from which gets entered into the book. With that seed you plant it in a pot
and figure out how to make it blossom! As you complete the page about that
particular plant, you go on to the next one. The book you record your research
and clues in is divided into chapters. A great way to introduce more brain
teasing puzzles to solve and progress you along. At the very beginning of the
book is a maps section which is a big help in solving the puzzles.
The setting of the game is in a Victorian English Manor, quite the sprawling
building of rooms with peaceful outdoor areas. The gardens, conservatory and
orchard net some nice surprises as you progress through a book that you fill
out with your research/clues on the various plants. There are not one, but two
ponds here where one is enclosed in cement, while the other is in a natural
setting.
Life back in the 1800s was a lot of hard work and peaceful times. Botany Manor
brought back memories of my anticipation of receiving a letter in the mail.
Something I still experience with a couple of friends who feel the same way. I
loved the use of these letters to impart clues and the story of Arabella with
her passion for botany. Throughout the game you realize Arabella had the drive
and did all that hard work only to hit a barrier that a lot of women faced
during that time period.
The music was so relaxing that I must admit to 'resting' and taking in the views a lot. Many screenshots have been taken too! With the music was an abundance of sound from running water to birds singing that brought out some olfactory memories of a manor I had visited years ago, and the smells associated with that time.
I absolutely loved that section with the camera and flash powder! Awesome as
that's my trade and I adore any photographic paraphernalia! I remember at a
museum here in my town where they had a similar setup and the story of how the
flash powder caused the photographer to sneeze and knock his setup over.
I loved the artwork both in the game and of the game design. The artist that I
also embody as I paint in watercolor from time to time was a joy to see around
the manor. I long for my own painting room, alas, not to be had for a while,
but I can dream as I played the game. Throughout the game I experienced that
calm that comes with an organized life of a scientist appealed greatly to me
throughout my progress through the game.
A few times I went overboard in picking things up and placing them in other spots, but that made me feel right at home! Part of gardening to me is creating an asthetically pleasing and peaceful area to sit and enjoy. One can ponder one's own life and what is to come next.
All in all, if you want to relax and enjoy a few mental challenges for a
couple of hours, go get this game. Balloon Studios put out an awesome game and
Whitethorn Games gave us all the means to buy a copy to play. My only little
wish is that there were more puzzles as I am a puzzle hound! Great story
suitable to the times, and the location and scenes were soothing to my ragged
and haywire senses the day this dropped in my lap. I forgot all about my
problems each time I opened the game to continue on after my regular daily
tasks.
Score: 9.5 / 10
Gordan Ramsay Announces Giveaway To Win An All-Expenses Paid Trip To Edinburgh
DUNDEE, SCOTLAND – May 12, 2023 – Outplay Entertainment, the largest independent mobile game developer in the UK, has partnered with Gordon Ramsay to set a new challenge for players of its culinary mobile puzzle game, Gordon Ramsay’s Chef Blast, to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Edinburgh.
For the chance to win the free-to-enter competition, starting at 00:01 UTC on Friday 12th May, players must defeat 10 levels in the game and enter before the competition closes on Friday 7th July. The competition prize includes free travel, accommodation at a four or five-star central Edinburgh hotel, and dining experiences at Bread Street Kitchen & Bar in St Andrew Square, Gordon Ramsay Street Burger, and Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza. The competition is open to players in the US, Canada (excluding Quebec) and the UK, with the prize draw taking place by 11th July. Full terms and conditions can be found here.
Several Gordon Ramsay recipes will also be up for grabs for the duration of the giveaway, including a surprise exclusive recipe.
Richard Hare, President & Co-founder of Outplay Entertainment, said: “We’re looking forward to giving our players the chance to experience even more of the world this year. We’ve already given away trips to the likes of Las Vegas, London and Washington, D.C., and our latest giveaway gives players the chance to win an escape to Edinburgh for two, including dining experiences at three of Chef Ramsay’s restaurants.”
Gordon Ramsay’s Chef Blast is Outplay Entertainment’s acclaimed title featuring the Culinary Genius™ himself. Released in January 2021, already downloaded 4.87m+ times and nominated for best puzzle game at the TIGA Games Awards 2022, players can blast their way through the puzzle game by tapping and matching cubes to win levels and unlock exclusive Gordon Ramsay recipes.
Gordon Ramsay’s Chef Blast is free and available to download now on iOS and Android:
- Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/be/app/gordon-ramsay-chef-blast/id1515755905
- Google Play Store:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.outplayentertainment.chefblast&hl=en_GB&gl=US
- Amazon App Store: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Outplay-Entertainment-Ltd-Gordon-Ramsay/dp/B09BDG8YQB/
About Outplay Entertainment
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Dundee, Outplay Entertainment is the largest independent mobile developer in the UK. To date, the studio’s games have received over 160 million downloads and have been featured multiple times as Apple’s Editors’ Choice. Outplay’s talented and dynamic team has developed multiple critically acclaimed and award-winning titles. The team has received nominations for Best Puzzle Game and Best Large Studio at the TIGA Games Industry Awards 2022, Best Large Budget Game at the Scottish Games Awards 2022 and Best Mobile Developer at the PocketGamer Awards 2022. Recognized as one of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK, Outplay is passionate about making the best games. With an exciting pipeline of future titles in development, and continual growth of its existing games, Outplay is just getting started.About Gordon Ramsay
Renowned for highly successful and award-winning original programming, Emmy-nominated and BAFTA-winning Ramsay produces TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic, seen by audiences worldwide in more than 200 territories, and he is the only talent on air in the U.S. with four prime-time national network shows. He hosts and executive-produces NEXT LEVEL CHEF, HELL’S KITCHEN, MASTERCHEF, MASTERCHEF JUNIOR and GORDON RAMSAY’S 24 HOURS TO HELL AND BACK, in addition to specials, including 2021’s “Gordon Ramsay’s American Road Trip.”Ramsay and Fox Entertainment recently announced their leading new worldwide production venture Studio Ramsay Global to develop, produce and distribute culinary and lifestyle programming for FOX, Tubi and global markets. His earlier multimedia production company Studio Ramsay was launched in the U.K. in 2016 to create and develop unscripted, digital and scripted programming, focusing on new formats and innovative programming, as well as fostering new talent. Its shows include GORDON RAMSAY’S 24 HOURS TO HELL AND BACK, which was the highest-rated food show of 2019; “The F-Word Live With Gordon Ramsay”; “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted,” on National Geographic Channel, which airs in 172 countries and 43 languages worldwide; the ratings hit and BAFTA-nominated “Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip,” for ITV; “Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance,” on BBC1; the daytime cooking series “Culinary Genius,” which premiered on ITV in the U.K., and was syndicated on FOX stations in the U.S.; the ITV series “The Savoy” and “Gordon on Cocaine”; and the highly popular children’s series “Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch,” starring Tilly Ramsay for U.K. children’s channel CBBC.
Studio Ramsay Global’s Digital Division is behind all of Ramsay’s original content on his highly successful YouTube Channel, which has made Ramsay the most subscribed chef on the platform. The 18-34 dominated channel launched the trending interview series “Scrambled,” and is also behind the highly successful “Ramsay in 10,” which went live during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Studio Ramsay Global Digital oversees and creates content for all behind-the-scenes moments from Studio Ramsay linear programming, has produced content for National Geographic and Masterclass, and produces recipe content across Gordon’s 80 million plus Social Media reach, including his breakout TikTok account.
For more information, please visit www.gordonramsay.com or follow Gordon Ramsay on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
BROK the InvestiGator Review
BROK the InvestiGator by developer and publisher Cowcat Games—PC (Steam) review written by Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
I admit BROK the InvestiGator was not on my radar until a certain situation came to light. After that, I looked into the game and made the decision to grab it. I'm glad I did because it's an amazing title with only one downfall that bothered me. Here's the review!
Gameplay
BROK the InvestiGator is a cross between a puzzle game and a beat-em-up game. It has a lot of nuanced elements that make it a fabulous title. You can switch Brok between combat mode and regular story mode at will. Throughout the game, players are greeted with amusing dialogue, plenty of intrigue, combat, and a couple of little minigames. What's great about each of these elements is the fact that none of them overstay their welcome. But, in order to explain how those roll into a nice love letter to gamers from the 90s (a la old school TMNT - the seaweed one, not the fighting game one. Yes there were two games...). This will be broken down into four parts: story, character switching, investigation, and combat.
Story
The first thing to cover is the story of this game. You play Brok a private investigator who is down on his luck. He lives in the poor area aptly named the Slums with his son-in-law Graff. In this universe, there are only two classes of citizens: slummers and drummers. One of the obvious differences between the two classes - other than social standing - is that slummers live outside the dome where the area is dilapidated and polluted. The living conditions are awful enough that people need to take a daily toxout pill so they don't die from the pollution. It gives a rather poignant impression of what Earth could become... (More on this later)
Anyways, the overall story follows Brok for the most part. However, due to the character switching between Brok and Graff, story situations can change. Based on how Brok handles key situations with his son-in-law throughout his investigations, players can receive several different endings. Now, the story itself is well done in that each character is fleshed out incredibly well. In fact, it is a perfectly balanced game in terms of the investigations, the combat encounters, and the dialogue.
Character Switching
Throughout the game, players can switch between Brok and Graff as mentioned. I believe the reason for this is to show different character perspectives and how people are affected by actions. This method of storytelling is one of the points that makes it more effective than other narratives that focus on one character. Plus, if players are stuck on something, they can just switch characters for a change of pace. But, be careful! Switching to Graff will send you back to school at one point! I totally wanted to relive some of those anxiety-inducing moments. *Not*
Depending on how you act when you are Brok or Graff, it will affect the relationship between the two. Plus, those actions will change how successful you'll be in the end. It's quite interesting and brilliantly done.
Investigation
One of the first missions you take as Brok has an obvious solution, but that doesn't stop you from needing the evidence to solve it. This requires you to talk to people, find physical evidence, and confront the right suspect. Unlike other investigation games which focus heavily on information gathering, Brok adds variety in its puzzle solutions like confronting the Squealers or traversing timed mazes. There are even clues that can only be collected through brute force. At one point, Brok punches a wall to find a weight. Also, one fateful jump caused the floor to crack which decreased Brok's health. That said, no two puzzles are the same.
Depending on which part of the investigation you are on, you either need to hunt for additional information or you are conducting a final confrontation with your suspect. With the clues collected, players get to pair clues together to reach a logical solution. Most of those interrogations aren't timed with the exception of one. If Brok makes too many incorrect choices then he fails. Still, the investigation portion can be challenging at times but not impossible. If you find you're stuck, the game has collectible 'ads' which can be found on each screen. These act as an in-game hint system. In my opinion, it was a nice change.
Combat
For the combat in Brok the InvestiGator, I like that it is both not sophisticated and the difficulty wildly varies. Due to the style of the game, the combat doesn't need to be complicated to work well. I even like that on level up, players can choose to increase their health, damage, or special attack. In fact, there is a way to go through the game without getting into combat (aside from the introductory part). That said, the combat on the keyboard is awful. It is much better on a controller. Players can use a couple of combo attacks but it's definitely no esports-level of fighting game. In my opinion, take the combat with a grain of salt.
If I had any real criticism about the combat, it would be about one fight that takes place near the hacker's place. It could be a combination of skill level and the way this fight is initiated, but I failed several times. Maybe I am terrible at certain fights or game styles, but that one was brutal. Players can't even go back to power up some more. Be mindful of this.
Graphics and UI
The graphics style and UI design in Brok the InvestiGator are quite nice. It's done in such a way that it isn't difficult to tell what areas need focus. On the controller and keyboard, there is a way to see the interactable areas. This is helpful when a player is stuck. Clues sometimes hide in obvious places and the ads are sneaky ninjas. Brok reminds me of some old 90's games that I remember fondly, even with its art style, references, and wittiness.
With the UI, each ability and option is displayed obviously without taking up too much screen real estate. Not only are players about to change keybindings, but they can access their inventory, the hints system, and a list of combat buttons. In fact, because of the game design, there is no need to clutter the screen with windows and buttons. This is definitely a feature I enjoy about the game.
Voice Acting
Despite the fact that Cowcat Games is a small indie studio with only a couple of titles published under them, they have a stellar cast of voice actors. Among them are Bryan J. Olson, Michael Kovach, and Daisy Guevara. Each of the three voice actors has a good number of credits to their names. For example, Bryan J. Olson who voices Brok has worked on Endless Space 2, Paper Mario: The Origami King, and Mortal Shell. Michael Kovach is more likely known through Cris Tales than some of his other credits, but he has many beginning as early as 2014. Finally, Daisy Guevara who voices Shay has many credits such as Smite and Yugioh Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale. What's great is that each of these voice actors fit their characters impressively well. There wasn't a single voice that felt out of place.
Additional Thoughts
One thing I wanted to mention about Brok the InvestiGator is how well it mirrors several aspects of the real world. It tackles subjects like computer dominance, competence, and compassion. Right from the beginning of the game, players are faced with paying bills, saving a homeless person, and doing what they can to survive. The world is separated between the poor or disadvantaged people and the wealthy or educated ones. And it does so by showing what happens as a result of actions or inaction taken by the player. Each encounter will modify people's relationships with Brok, and while it's not at the level of Detroit Become Human with tons of possible endings, it still has several potential endings. I love how well the game brought forward real issues without going overboard. Because of this, and many other reasons, I have a high rating for the title.
Summary and Rating
After finishing the game at least once, I found that I absolutely enjoyed my experience with the game. It has an awesome art style, a good mixture of combat and investigation, and fantastic voice acting. Even though there was one particular fight that just *sucked* for me, it doesn't contribute to the one thing that bothered me about the game. And that one thing was the ending for two separate reasons. Unlike the rest of the game which has a sporadic spread of cutscenes, the ending section felt more like an info-dumping movie. Everything else was so good yet we were given a giant detailed dump that dropped my hype a notch. I wish this wasn't done because I hated it.
The second part about the ending had to do with the type of ending. Without being too specific about what happened, I get that Shay needed to have a justification to be part of the story but honestly, it could have been something else instead of *THAT*. I could prattle on about different things that could have explained what happened without resorting to that specific plot device. Besides, stories that fall back on it often lead to complications in sequel games. That said, I still loved the whole game.
Summary
Brok the InvestiGator is a wonderful point and click game with beat-em-up elements that I absolutely adore. Aside from some minor issues with combat and the ending sequence, this game is truly one of my favorites of 2022. In fact, this family friendly game kept me engaged throughout my whole playthrough enough to put it at the top. Brok is definitely a contender for game of the year and I give it a high 9 out of 10!
Score: 9 / 10Dorfromantik is Heading to the Nintendo Switch in September 2022!
August
23rd - Berlin, Germany - During the Gamescom Opening
Night Live Show, Toukana Interactive
revealed that their award-winning peaceful city puzzler Dorfromantik is coming to Nintendo Switch™ on September 29 this
year!
Dorfromantik is a peaceful building strategy and puzzle game where you create a beautiful and ever-growing village landscape by placing tiles. Players explore a variety of colorful biomes, discover and unlock new tiles to include in future sessions and complete quests to fill their world with life.
After the successful full release of Dorfromantik for PC earlier this year, the first adaption of the indie hit will now be released for the Nintendo Switch. The versatility of the Nintendo Switch harmonizes beautifully with Dorfromantik's short games on the go or cozy game evenings on the couch.
As a new addition to the proven gameplay of Dorfromantik comes a completely new cherry blossom-themed biome with its unique architecture and scenery to celebrate the Nintendo Switch launch.
Features
● Unique mix of strategy and puzzle mechanics
● Building vast and beautiful landscapes
● High replay value - every session is different
● Many unlockable new tiles and biomes
● Original artstyle with a handpainted board game feel
● Relaxing mood achieved through the games pace, visuals, and music
● Different game modes, built for different play styles with a wide range from creative to competitive
● New challenges at monthly intervals
Links
● Website: https://toukana.com/dorfromantik/
● Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455840/Dorfromantik/
● GOG: https://www.gog.com/game/dorfromantik
● Twitter: @_Toukana
About Toukana Interactive
Dorfromantik was developed by four game design students from Berlin who founded Toukana Interactive in 2020. With Dorfromantik as their debut title, they offer a reference project that embodies the core philosophy of their game development: a minimalistic and elegant core mechanic with high replay value, embedded in an idyllic game world and combined with harmonious gameplay.
Nintendo Switch is a Trademark of Nintendo.
Article by: Susan N.
Logic Pic Review
Logic Pic by developer Space
Sheep and publishers Naptime Games and By Aliens—Nintendo Switch review written by Hayden
with a copy provided by the publisher.
Publishers Naptime Games and By Aliens have delivered a fun, casual puzzle game in Logic Pic. Using a form of numeric crossword called a “nonogram”, players are challenged to reveal pixel art pictures on a variety of canvas sizes. Using only number clues, players have to figure out what needs to be filled in. This style of game has been brought to life by a number of publishers and websites. Logic Pic in particular is a polished adaptation of By Alien’s earlier Android and iOS game of the same name. Claiming over 5 million downloads reported on the Android version alone, this is a game with proven appeal that has now arrived on the Nintendo Switch.
You'll solve these using a single-color grid, but once you finish a picture it will come to life with color.
Great, so do I need to do anything here? Logic Pic's tutorial could be clearer about when the player needs to step in and do something rather than just read and watch.
This many tiles is going to take a while, especially in the early stages as you try to find spots to fill in tiles.
Co-op mode, where you can see who did what, and errors are tracked in the top left.
Versus mode, with the point tallies in the top left again. The screen background changes to the active player's color.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Publishers Naptime Games and By Aliens have delivered a fun, casual puzzle game in Logic Pic. Using a form of numeric crossword called a “nonogram”, players are challenged to reveal pixel art pictures on a variety of canvas sizes. Using only number clues, players have to figure out what needs to be filled in. This style of game has been brought to life by a number of publishers and websites. Logic Pic in particular is a polished adaptation of By Alien’s earlier Android and iOS game of the same name. Claiming over 5 million downloads reported on the Android version alone, this is a game with proven appeal that has now arrived on the Nintendo Switch.
You'll solve these using a single-color grid, but once you finish a picture it will come to life with color.
Tutorial
Logic Pic includes a quick three-part tutorial that is intended to introduce players to the fundamentals of the game. For players like myself who have done at least a few nonograms previously, the tutorial feels adequate. It serves as an adequate introduction (refresher?) on the concepts and a chance to get familiar with the game controls. Notably, the game skipped a few items that make it unique from other nonogram offerings. Mostly, these appear to be adaptations of what were likely in-app purchasable items in the mobile game. In particular, there is a menu to gain various hints on the puzzle, but what the different hint options were was never explained.
Great, so do I need to do anything here? Logic Pic's tutorial could be clearer about when the player needs to step in and do something rather than just read and watch.
I ran a test to see how Logic Pic’s tutorial held up for players new to nonograms. For both brand new players, it quickly became clear that the tutorials were insufficient. In particular, the tutorials were not clear on what was expected in order to proceed at times. The tutorial would state something like ‘full rows are a great help in solving a puzzle’, but wouldn’t actually prompt the player to fill the rows in to progress.
I watched both new players repeatedly waiting for clear instructions of what they were expected to do. This usually occurred after a series of reading-only screens, leaving them puzzled why the information flow had stopped. Since Logic Pic seems aimed at casual gamers who may not be used to unwritten norms in how game mechanics work, this oversight could prove to be a barrier to the game’s intended audience.
Single Player
The core of Logic Pic is the number and variety of puzzles it can provide to a solitary player. In this area, the game shines, with the game’s website claiming over 1,000 puzzles included with the game at release. Released alongside the game were 3 DLC packs that offer a combined 800+ additional puzzles to play through. Puzzles range in size from simple 5x5 grids (25 tile) to giant 15x20 (300 tile) grids.
Solving the larger puzzles can take a considerable amount of time! Although I’m sure that solution times will vary between players, the smallest puzzles took only a couple of minutes. Large puzzles, however, could easily approach half an hour of careful concentration. All told, that implies hundreds of hours of content available to the player, providing excellent value for the purchase price.
This many tiles is going to take a while, especially in the early stages as you try to find spots to fill in tiles.
Co-op and Versus Modes
I was happy to see that Logic Pic managed to incorporate both cooperative and head-to-head competitive play for every puzzle. In cooperative mode, each player has their own controller active simultaneously with a different color highlight to differentiate it. All players work together to fill in tiles, keeping only a tally of the errors made by each player visible. Each player’s contributions are marked in the corner with a slash of color, so you can can keep track of what you did and see who has contributed to the solution.
Co-op mode, where you can see who did what, and errors are tracked in the top left.
Versus mode in Logic Pic feels like an excellent party mode where everyone in the family can participate. Each player gets a set amount of time to fill in as many tiles as they can, alternating between up to four players. The game tallies points in this mode, granting a point for every correct tile and subtracting one for every error. The timed element in this mode vastly changes the feel of the game. Overall, the mood changes from a casual puzzle to a tense race against the clock to claim tiles.
Versus mode, with the point tallies in the top left again. The screen background changes to the active player's color.
Conclusion
Playing through Logic Pic, I can see why the original game from By Aliens has amassed millions of downloads on mobile. Naptime’s adaptation for the Switch hits the target as a fun, casual puzzle game. The choice to eliminate in-app purchases is a good one on a console with significant usage among underage players.
The co-op and versus modes included with the game play well with the multiplayer capabilities of the Nintendo Switch, and will appeal to players who want a game the whole family can enjoy together. Finally, the breadth of content included with the game will keep players satisfied for hours, making this a great choice for value-conscious players.
Summary
Naptime and By Aliens have delivered a fun casual puzzle game in Logic Pic. Dropping for the Switch free of the mobile version’s in-app purchases, Logic Pic packs in tons of content with the base game. Co-op and Versus modes turn this previously solitary style of puzzler into fun with friends or family, and extra puzzle packs are available from day one in case you somehow manage to finish the 1,000+ included with the base game.
A great choice to round out your Switch library with something you won’t feel awkward sharing with any generation of player.
Score: 8.5 / 10
