Escape From Puppy Death Factory

By: Derek Yu

On: August 16th, 2011

Escape From Puppy Death Factory is my favorite Adult Swim game to date – even sweaty, nude car people can’t beat this mix of adorabubble puppies and smart design around an innovative block-swapping mechanic. Glen “Radix” Forrester developed the mechanic for Ssshifty and collaborated with Arthur Lee on early versions of Puppy Death Factory before the two split amicably and Arthur took control of the project. This game definitely includes all of the hallmarks of Arthur’s designs: funny dialogue, catchy tunes, and a cute nod to a classic game (Metroid, in this case).

The canine hero of Puppy Death Factory can fire a shot that swaps her position with whatever block it hits. There are some neat, timing-intensive applications of this, like flying through a line of blocks by swapping quickly with one after the other. Other obstacles – like moving platforms, laser beams, bombs, and mirrors – add depth to the puzzles, some of which are quite clever. Overall, it’s not a tremendously difficult game, but going for 100% completion offers a moderate challenge and it’s fun swapping your way through the game’s desolate locales to hear what each lovable pooch has to say when you rescue it.

TIGdb: Entry for Escape From Puppy Death Factory

Legend of Fae

By: Lorne Whiting

On: July 29th, 2011

Legend of Fae, by indie duo Endless Fluff, was recently added to Steam. The game is a charming mix of the Match-3 and RPG genres: the player switches between the two, using magic they’ve gathered in the puzzle mode to attack in the RPG mode. It’s pretty tame at first, but battles get frantic in the second half of the game and the mechanics start to really shine. The game is easily worth the 10 dollar price tag; by the end I’d say it was the best Match-3 game I’ve played. There’s just not much interest for the rather lengthy introductory segment of the the game.

Although the demo for the game is strangely absent from Steam’s store page, you can still nab it from the developer’s website.

Impasse

By: Derek Yu

On: July 18th, 2011

I really like this new turn-based puzzler, Impasse, so it’s good to hear that developer Wanderlands is planning on releasing a “spiritual sequel” in the near future. The goal in each level is simple – move the white circle to the green circle on the right side of the screen without landing on any other circle. New circle types are introduced all the time to keep the puzzles fresh, but there are no tutorials of any sort (and none required). It’s a very elegant design.

TIGdb: Entry for Impasse

Desktop Dungeons Demo Playable During E3

By: Derek Yu

On: June 7th, 2011

For the next three days, you can try out a browser-based build of Desktop Dungeons (Unity plugin required). This is the demo that QCF Design is showing off at E3.

Desktop Dungeons Website Launches with Preorders

By: Derek Yu

On: June 2nd, 2011

QCF Design has just launched a website for Desktop Dungeons, the popular puzzle game inspired by roguelikes. The launch comes with announcements that 1. the team is taking pre-orders for the new version of DD (shown above), 2. the original, freeware game is receiving a small update, and 3. an official forum for the games has also been opened.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent 1.2

By: Derek Yu

On: May 17th, 2011

I’ve been meaning to talk about Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but truth be told, it’s taking me a while to complete the game. It’s not the puzzles that are causing me to balk, but the terror of traipsing through another of the game’s dark hallways, anxiously checking my lantern oil and wondering if I’m being stalked by something horrible. Amnesia is one of the few games where item-gathering puzzles are genuinely thrilling, if only because it’s scary just to walk across a room.

Thankfully, the game’s update today gives me a good reason to make a post. On top of the bug fixes, 1.2 adds five short stories to read, as well as the DLC titled “Justine” that was created for Valve’s Portal 2 ARG and has been retooled for the update. Additionally, the Amnesia OST is now available for purchase through the Frictional Games online store (or as a free download for players who pre-ordered the game or bought it directly from the creators).

The update does not, however, come with the fortitude to see you through Amnesia’s constant thrills, which are well-crafted with various subtle and not-so-subtle cues. Frictional Games has really outdone itself with the graphics, and especially the audio, which are both top-notch, as well as the physics-based interaction that they’ve been refining since the Penumbra series. Survival horror fans and the morbidly curious should definitely check it out.

Released: September 8th, 2010
Price: $19.99
TIGdb: Entry for Amnesia: The Dark Descent

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Pragmatica

By: Derek Yu

On: May 16th, 2011

Pragmatica is a nifty puzzle game from HiVE, a team that includes Srehpog (Ark 22, Umbrella Adventure). The goal is simple: in each level, program robots with conditional statements so that they make their way safely to the exits. It gets a lot more challenging, however, as the game introduces hazards, switches, crates, bombs, and multiple control groups of robots to the mix. A built-in map maker lets you create and share your own levels.

TIGdb: Entry for Pragmatica

SpaceChem Currently 50% Off

By: Alehkhs

On: May 12th, 2011

If you’ve not yet tried out Zachtronics Industries’ gem of a puzzler SpaceChem, now is the excellent time to do so. Currently on sale for 50% ($14.99 $7.49) on both the game’s site and Steam, SpaceChem has kept me awake for what is certainly an unhealthy length of time: Increasingly difficult, consistently rewarding, I continue to be amazed by the simple-yet-ingenious mechanics of this highly addictive game.

Check out the trailer above, grab the demo, and if you like what you see, be sure to grab it while it’s cheap!

Mamono Sweeper

By: Derek Yu

On: March 6th, 2011

Mamono Sweeper came out last year, but I just tried it on a friend’s recommendation and I like it! It’s a take on the classic puzzle game Minesweeper that makes things a bit more interesting by replacing the mines with monsters of varying levels. If you’re at the same level as a monster when you reveal it, then you take no damage; otherwise, you take damage equal to the monster’s level. The numbered tiles show you the sum of the adjacent monsters’ levels, rather than the number of monsters.

The description below the game contains links to more difficult modes that have larger playfields and more monsters. Would have been nice if these were all included in one package, but oh well.

TIGdb: Entry for Mamono Sweeper

Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles

By: Derek Yu

On: February 8th, 2011

I don’t play a whole lot of puzzle games, but Yuan Works’s Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles caught my eye last week with its fun mechanics, great presentation, and cute Story Mode. The game was originally released in 2007 for the Korean GP2X handheld and was re-released for the Dreamcast a year later (both of these were commercial releases). Its creators recently made the game free to download on Windows.

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