Recent reviews by iestynne

This is the best one yet.

The narrative framing adds some motivating structure and fun reward.

The difficulty levels are a really great decision. I think different players simply have different preferences here, so this makes perfect sense.

I am playing on Agent and it's perfect for me - sometimes it flows easily, sometimes I have to pause and scratch my head for a bit, so there's constant variety in the experience.

I may go back and replay on the harder setting once I finish. When you pick a difficulty level (which I think you can change at any time, for any not-yet-started sub-puzzles), it gives you some tips on relevant solving strategies (these being what I assume are used to generate the puzzles), one of which I hadn't seen before which was neat.

Didn't get very far. Plays like an old-school adventure game... did you backtrack everywhere and click on everything to get the exact item/hint you needed, then try combining everything with everything? Ugh no thanks, wasted enough time on that in the 90s

Good demo. Good amount of content, lots of variety and surprises. Medium difficulty; requires focus but not punishing. Bumpslash is a nice elegant input scheme (all about positioning and timing). I will buy the game on sale.

It's amazing, you just need to push through the rough opening.

After my first session I ragequit and left a negative review. It could definitely do with some more tutorial content and UI cleanup.

But after my second session I was feeling more positive and inclined to continue.

From then on I became more and more enamored with the game. What felt janky at first quickly became a satisfying journey of mastery. It actual seems very carefully designed in every aspect (movement, combat, items, exploration).

Even once you get used to the fractal aspect, the variety of hidden sub-worlds to find in here is pretty mind boggling. It's a big mystery to unravel.

I do agree that in-game note taking should be added. Steam screenshots are ok but fiddly to use. It should show a map of the fractal tree (the parts that you have so far discovered), with all the text entries/hints you have read at each node and the option to star ones you want to remember.

What a brilliant concept! And fantastically executed to boot.

After my first couple of runs, the challenge presented seemed totally impossible... and yet, I quickly got sucked in by the delightfully playful creativity of the (sometimes creepy, sometimes hilarious) anomaly designs. An hour later, I felt like a complete master of the lighthouse, having committed to memory an absurd number of details. It really is one of the best experiences in gaming (one totally unique to this medium), when play guides you to achieving a level of skill that initially seemed completely out of reach.

I've been wanting to see more memory-based games, and this is a brilliant and unanticipated new form (new to me at least, lol). I think memory is a key part of what makes builder/automation games so enjoyable - in building a complex structure piece by piece, you unintentionally memorize it, which strongly enhances your feeling of mastery. Narrative puzzle games (Obra Dinn, Golden Idol) are another good example, using narrative structure and curiosity to enhance memory. I was comparatively disappointed by Wilmot's Warehouse; the organizational angle on memory seems like it has a lot more untapped potential.

So this is the eighth game in the series, eh... guess I know what I'll be doing for the next month then! ;)

It's decent. Simple, cozy, relaxed.

But... not very interesting mechanically. I'd compare it to the proximity-based spatial buff/debuff system in Urbek, but simplified and less engaging. If you just want to build a cute looking city, it's fine for that, but it doesn't seem like there's much interesting problem-solving or optimization to do.

The priority system sucks just like it does in all other games that use this godforsaken mechanic... really you just need an excess of people so that all jobs are filled at all times, otherwise nobody ever does what you want. Progress also seems slow, even at max speed, which I guess fits a cozy/relaxed vibe.

The water system might be interesting, but I was unable to unlock it in the demo (ran out of favor points to spend).

The god system needs much better explanation. I didn't know why the gods were angry at me, nor what I could do about it. Seems like a reasonable design for a tutorial and unlock-titration system though.

I'm giving this a mild thumbs-down overall; the demo was fun but not interesting enough to entice me to buy the full game. If you're looking for a simple/cozy/relaxed city builder though, it might be good for you.

It's extremely simple. You put a list of things into a pot. That's it.

It's also broken with Index controllers... you can kind of play, if you exercise extreme patience, but whether you pick up things seems almost entirely random (and you often pick up things through walls!). Controllers also buzz constantly. No settings of any kind.

All in all, seems very much like an unfinished prototype.

Nice art and use of lighting though.

Incredible game!

As good as Animal Well.... well, not quite, but pretty close! Simplistic audio/visuals hold it back from that tier.

This is an incredibly tightly designed puzzle game. The mechanics are simple, but plumbed for incredible depth. The design is fantastic, leading you oh so subtly to figure out trick after trick. So many "Ah-ha!" moments I lost count. I actually laughed out loud multiple times at the brilliance of the puzzle design. Just amazing.

Doesn't seem playtested.

Several basic things need fixing before I can recommend this:
- hands need to actually grab and let go reliably
- hand controls need inverting
- camera needs to track your rotation automatically

As it is it's just annoying.

Amazing demo! So excited for the full game. The mechanics here are super unique and interesting. Puzzles are really good (quite tricky, with lovely a-ha moments and nice alternate-puzzle hints if you get stuck) and interconnected in cool ways.

The room-replay is a great concept but needs to not automatically replay all rooms; it should go one room at a time so you can choose where to make changes.