Recent reviews by Superrodan

I found this game through a random post on reddit asking for playtesters, and I'm glad I did. I love puzzle games and this one will trick you with its simple looks and controls, because it hides a lot of layers and depth. The term Metroidbrainia is a buzzword right now, and Chroma Zero fits directly in that category. Learning how the world works will allow you to access new places in the world, which will teach you new things about how the world works, and so on and so on. It's a wonderful cycle.

That said, like in any open world puzzle game it can be difficult to know what you don't know. The in-game prompts that guide you aren't designed to walk you through the game so much as push you towards discoveries. At one point I thought there must be some mechanic I didn't understand, but really it was just me not remembering how to apply my knowledge to something pretty simple. That led to a significant amount of time spinning my wheels, but once I finally came to my senses the rest of the game was relatively smooth sailing.

I playtested the game for over ten hours in a beta version before being given a key to switch to testing the steam version, so my playtime here does not reflect how long it actually took me to beat. On top of that, my review will say that I got the game for free. I gladly would have paid full price for this game, and I'll be buying it for some friends to support the dev.

If you like puzzle games, I recommend you buy it as well.

Valley of Shadow finds itself somewhere between the "Portal" style of chamber-based puzzles and a "Walking Simulator" style game that has a heavy focus on a very personal and clearly very real story for the developers of the game. It definitely trends more towards the puzzle aspect (maybe 80% puzzle), with many different challenges that use a variety of tools and ideas, combining them all to create some very unique moments, especially in the final quarter of the game. I am a big fan of puzzle games, and the puzzles in Valley of Shadow use the game's mechanics well. The ways of manipulating the world that you have at your disposal start out simple, and then get more interesting and complicated as you progress. I'd recommend it for that alone.

When it comes to the story, which is the other 20% of the game's formula, I could tell that it meant a lot to the developers. Without spoiling anything you won't learn in the first few minutes, the game has a heavy focus on a type of therapy session, and in a way it feels like making the game was partially a therapy session as well. It offered them a way of unpacking some of the less pleasant parts of their lives. This can make it uncomfortable at times to experience as an outsider, though not enough that I didn't want to continue puzzling.

If you're looking for a puzzle game recommendation and are not afraid of the very personal nature of the story, I'd definitely say that you should check it out. But at the same time I think it's important to know what you're getting into.

Way of Rhea is a charming puzzle game (with great music and visuals) that has easy to understand mechanics such as switches, doors, and teleporters (as well as some other surprises I won't spoil.) Even though you may have seen these ingredients in many other games, the levels here use them to create clever moments and wonderful puzzles. I definitely recommend it.

Unforgettable Voyage is a charming little sokoban game. I wouldn't call it extremely difficult, but it has nice progression, good mechanics, and a silly little story with cute dialogue and characters. I think the closest thing I can compare it to is Adventures of Lolo, as it has traps and enemies that can pose a mild threat to your movement. But still, even so, it's much more casual and user friendly, with a back button that lets you undo deaths and level design that rarely traps you into a situation where you have to restart.

Platonic is a fun puzzle game with some interesting mechanics. It's a bit rough around the edges, but ultimately I had a good time. Some people might compare it to The Witness, but I don't think it's quite the same. Instead, the puzzles don't necessarily follow a common theme, though there are some shared elements between them.

Instead, often times the puzzles in Platonic involve stumbling across a key (not a physical key) via exploration or by solving another puzzle. Then,figuring out where and more importantly, how to apply that key to a different puzzle becomes a new challenge. This allows the areas and puzzles to flow into one another quite nicely. It's the kind of game where you should take a lot of screenshots as you go, because while each area has their own standalone bits, there is a lot of crossover.

I played for about 8 hours and only got stuck twice. In one situation, I blamed myself for not inspecting something close enough. In another, I blamed the an interface choice on a puzzle element I didn't agree with.
I did also complete the game without feeling that I truly understood every aspect of it, but even so I felt satisfied in the end.

Elec Head is a bit short (I beat it in 2 hours and took another 2 or so hours to find everything), but its very good. The puzzles are clever, the game feels really nice to play (meaning the action-y bits aren't too difficult) , and the art seems simple but it can be really quite beautiful. The soundtrack is also somehow simultaneously nonintrusive, but also rocks. It would come and go, but when the music would kick in I got really into it.

There is one puzzle I wasn't the biggest fan of (because it relies on you stumbling across something really difficult to stumble across) but it was optional.

Still, I highly recommend it.

This is an extremely underrated, quite excellent puzzle game in the vein of The Witness, Fez, and Antichamber.
If you are the type of gamer who enjoyed digging deep and finding all their was to find in those games, this game is perfect for you.

Just like in those games, to say more than that would be a disservice to the game's design. Enjoy.

If you want to know what kind of game it is, you can look for the original There Is No Game. It was a free flash game and a mobile game. This game essentially takes the same formula of silly puzzle solving with a narrator to 11. I don't want to give too much away, but I liked it a lot. It's silly, meta, and generally fun. Highly recommended.

I like this game. It was a tiny bit slow to get started but once I unlocked a few different abilities it became quite enjoyable. That's kind of the premise of the game, though, since its all about unlocking more and more.

I got stuck on some of the levels about two thirds of the way through, due to overwhelming difficulty. It seems like other people had issues as well, because a new balance patch came out that addressed my biggest sticking point with the game. It seems like most of my issues have been cleared up, as the plants don't shoot backwards anymore (and I think they fire a bit less randomly too?)

Now that those levels are easier, I am able to play without getting stuck on a single level for an unreasonable amount of time. I still lost a level occasionally, but it felt much more balanced. I am happy to find a developer that listens to feedback from the community.

All in all I'd recommend it.

Stephen's Sausage Roll is one of the hardest puzzle games I have ever played, while also feeling like one of the "fairest". The controls and rules are extremely simple but the developer managed to create some real mind-benders that use the limited pieces available in every possible way. Figuring out a tough puzzle is very rewarding.

I'd recommend it to anyone that thinks other popular puzzle games are too easy.