Recent reviews by sunnyjum

Many of these 50 games have more innovation and creativity within them than most AAA releases of late. It is hard enough to ship a single game, let alone 50 GOOD games at once. I've clocked up 70 hours, none of that is grinding, and I still don't feel like I've scratched the surface of what this collection has to offer. I cannot recommend this game/collection enough.

The programming puzzles are not open-ended like a Zachtronics game, but are designed to make you discover a very specific and well-crafted solution. As a result Star Stuff has more in common with logic puzzles than it does with optimisation games. As a fan of thinky games and logic puzzles I had an absolute blast with this title. Strong recommendation!

This is a top tier thinky puzzle game. All the creatures interact with each other in intriguing and clever ways. I'm 9 hours in and so far every puzzle manages to do something new and interesting.

Clever and fun, Sokobond Express combines the best elements of Cosmic Express and Sokobond. The minimalist presentation is appealing and fits the game well.

Bean and Nothingness is one of the best puzzle games I've ever played. It is also one of the hardest puzzle games I've ever played. The level design successfully squeezes every last drop of creativity out of its various monsters and their possible interactions. There are some great "ah-ha" moments in here.

The gating of later levels is very relaxed so you will always have a large pool of levels you can go back to. I also appreciate the in-game difficulty rating of each puzzle - this is a great spoiler-free way of letting the player know if they may be missing something obvious or if the puzzle is simply very hard and may wish to be reattempted later.

This is a fantastic little puzzle platformer. Excellent puzzle design, no filler and deceptively brutal.

This is for puzzle game first and foremost, the platforming elements are very simple exist only to serve the puzzling.

If you don't enjoy puzzles please stay well clear of this game. Off you trot. Bye bye.

You're still here? You LIKE puzzles?! Well get on in.

The Witness is one man's vision perfectly realized. Having finished the game, I look back to the start of the experience realize just how much I have been taught about how the structure and flow of the puzzles in this game work despite never being offered a single line of instruction to as what the rules are.

All puzzles in the Witness are solved by drawing an unbroken line from a circular node, through a maze and into a rounded end point. Interacting with the world in such a consistent manner avoids being repetitive by constantly switching up and adding to the design of the puzzles with masterful execution by the creator Jonathan Blow. In doing so, it also solves a big problem of many puzzle games - pixel hunting. You now know without the need of pressing a button or requiring a cluttered GUI overlay if what you are looking at can be interacted with.

Puzzles aside, the game itself looks and sounds beautiful. The visuals are wildly varied between sections of the game, while at the same time still feeling like they belong together on the same island. While (almost) completely devoid of music, a solid ambient soundscape ties the experience together.

At first I wondered why the island itself was even necessary. Could the game simply not be a collection of puzzles held accessible by a central menu? Having completed the game, I know understand the opposite to be true. The island is crucial.

The Witness is a lovingly crafted puzzle game. I cannot wait to return to the island.