A puzzle game where the rooms are items and the items are rooms. Get to the goal by moving, rearranging and duplicating rooms and altering the structure of the world.
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Recursed is easily one of the most clever puzzle games I've played. It takes a few ideas from computer science -- largely variable scope and the titular recursion, and makes them into an extremely fun puzzler with just the tiniest bit of platforming. The most basic concept is that each room of the game exists in a box. When you go into a box, everything in it is instantiated anew. So, if you need two keys in the box you are currently in, and have a box with a key in it, you go in and remove a key, drop it, then go back for another. From there, it introduces a few others tools dealing with scoping or, in other words, 'rules of existence'. For example, only one copy of an enchanted object exists. If you move it in a room, then that's where it'll be when you come back. If you take it out of a room, it won't be there again unless you bring it back. And so on. It then takes every one of these tools and asks you to take it figure out different logical extremes throughout the puzzles. Unironically, Recursed is all of the fun parts of an algorithms course, but packaged in a way that's cute and accessible, avoiding the need for any knowledge of mathematical notation, formalisms, and so on.
I found the game fairly challenging, but nothing was too extreme. That said, I'm a computer scientist, so my background had me well prepared for what Recursed asked of me. Even so, I think it's something that any puzzle fan can enjoy, as long as you're willing to stretch your mind in ways that very few others games ask you to. There were a few puzzles where I ended up taking notes on how to reach a certain state -- some of the set ups could be rather involved, and it was easy to end up in an unwinnable position. In fact, that's my only real criticism of the game: it could be frustrating to have to redo a 30 step process after making a mistake. Still, it wasn't so bad once I just started taking notes on the longer puzzles, and there really weren't too many of them.
I completed all of the regular courses, many of the (extremely cool) 'hidden routes', and got the main ending. I had a great time the whole way through, and will likely be back to find the 'hidden routes' I missed the first time through and play the side puzzles at some point. I consider Recursed to be among the all time greats of the Puzzle genre, and highly recommend it!
I found the game fairly challenging, but nothing was too extreme. That said, I'm a computer scientist, so my background had me well prepared for what Recursed asked of me. Even so, I think it's something that any puzzle fan can enjoy, as long as you're willing to stretch your mind in ways that very few others games ask you to. There were a few puzzles where I ended up taking notes on how to reach a certain state -- some of the set ups could be rather involved, and it was easy to end up in an unwinnable position. In fact, that's my only real criticism of the game: it could be frustrating to have to redo a 30 step process after making a mistake. Still, it wasn't so bad once I just started taking notes on the longer puzzles, and there really weren't too many of them.
I completed all of the regular courses, many of the (extremely cool) 'hidden routes', and got the main ending. I had a great time the whole way through, and will likely be back to find the 'hidden routes' I missed the first time through and play the side puzzles at some point. I consider Recursed to be among the all time greats of the Puzzle genre, and highly recommend it!
this is one of the hardest puzzle games ever made, but also has some of the best puzzles ever. a good way to play it is co-op with a friend where you're trying to solve together. two heads are better than one, and once the difficulty really spikes (around where you start getting paradox levels) you'll want some company
Good if you love puzzles
I am breaking my usual routine and writing this before completing Recursed, because I fear I will never be able to.
This is, undoubtedly, one of the hardest games I've ever played. I love puzzle games, and I consider myself good at them only by way of experience with the process of eliminating non-solutions, and not so much because of some incredible intuition. However, Recursed has taught me that the puzzle games that have given me that supposed level of skill all contain a common throughline of readily apparent logic. Recursed, by comparison, is the wild west, wholly unpredictable to me regardless of the time I commit to it.
Every room in the game is housed in a moveable chest, the default behavior of which is to reload its original state upon entry. The game begins with you establishing precarious routes through these rooms, solving mini-obstacles with clever item juggling and order of operations before landing yourself at the finish line. Then you might be asked what advantages are gained from a room that contains a chest of itself in it, or what happens if you submerge that chest in water before entry. Things get complex with this basic system quite fast.
But the midgame is where my brain started to crack. You are introduced to "enchanted" items, which are similar to Braid's green-highlighted objects in that they are impervious to your typical mechanics of instance-loading and repeated generation, instead persisting in their last laid location until moved (or accidentally deleted, should their housing chest be lost). In one level, you're meant to create an elaborate loop of rooms so that you can find yourself holding an enchanted chest while inside of it. Tunneling into it allows you to move your position throughout the room in unusual ways - throw the chest across a gap impossible to jump, then leave, and emerge from that location. It's brilliant, but not as brilliant as when you find yourself in a broken game state because you left the top-level enchanted room while simulataneously holding it, causing a paradox that sends you to an entirely new puzzle.
It's safe to say that without something like devotion, I doubt I will ever uncover all of the intricacies that Recursed holds. It is a game that taunts you with your lack of comprehension of space outside of our pitiful Euclidean existence, and I think ultimately it is the fact that it it such an unwilling teacher that holds it back from even greater acclaim. On levels with new concepts, a small ring can be found that triggers a Stephen Fry-alike doing a Winnie-the-Pooh "oh bother, what is this" routine, but never actually helping understand the constraints of the situation. Outside of occasionally insightful level titles, you're meant to discover things on your own through trial-and-error, and this in and of itself is reasonable, but not in conjunction with the lack of any sort of rewind feature. Later levels are larger time commitments with lengthy and complex setups, and a strict requirement for operational order can lead to simple mistakes that erase your work and force a reset. It is simply a chore to explore the full problem space, especially when you're trying to put the finishing touches on a half-solution.
Recursed is imposing and unhelpful, brash in its sheer difficulty and endless complications, but it houses one of the most stimulating, bewildering puzzle systems I've ever seen. Successes feel monumental, and sometimes the failures can be similarly astonishing in how they upend your assumptions. To be sent to the paradox world unexpectedly is a humbling feeling, and one that itself is worthy of experiencing. For all it's done to torture me, I maintain that Recursed deserves acclaim beyond its current repute. It is one of the modern greats in its field.
This is, undoubtedly, one of the hardest games I've ever played. I love puzzle games, and I consider myself good at them only by way of experience with the process of eliminating non-solutions, and not so much because of some incredible intuition. However, Recursed has taught me that the puzzle games that have given me that supposed level of skill all contain a common throughline of readily apparent logic. Recursed, by comparison, is the wild west, wholly unpredictable to me regardless of the time I commit to it.
Every room in the game is housed in a moveable chest, the default behavior of which is to reload its original state upon entry. The game begins with you establishing precarious routes through these rooms, solving mini-obstacles with clever item juggling and order of operations before landing yourself at the finish line. Then you might be asked what advantages are gained from a room that contains a chest of itself in it, or what happens if you submerge that chest in water before entry. Things get complex with this basic system quite fast.
But the midgame is where my brain started to crack. You are introduced to "enchanted" items, which are similar to Braid's green-highlighted objects in that they are impervious to your typical mechanics of instance-loading and repeated generation, instead persisting in their last laid location until moved (or accidentally deleted, should their housing chest be lost). In one level, you're meant to create an elaborate loop of rooms so that you can find yourself holding an enchanted chest while inside of it. Tunneling into it allows you to move your position throughout the room in unusual ways - throw the chest across a gap impossible to jump, then leave, and emerge from that location. It's brilliant, but not as brilliant as when you find yourself in a broken game state because you left the top-level enchanted room while simulataneously holding it, causing a paradox that sends you to an entirely new puzzle.
It's safe to say that without something like devotion, I doubt I will ever uncover all of the intricacies that Recursed holds. It is a game that taunts you with your lack of comprehension of space outside of our pitiful Euclidean existence, and I think ultimately it is the fact that it it such an unwilling teacher that holds it back from even greater acclaim. On levels with new concepts, a small ring can be found that triggers a Stephen Fry-alike doing a Winnie-the-Pooh "oh bother, what is this" routine, but never actually helping understand the constraints of the situation. Outside of occasionally insightful level titles, you're meant to discover things on your own through trial-and-error, and this in and of itself is reasonable, but not in conjunction with the lack of any sort of rewind feature. Later levels are larger time commitments with lengthy and complex setups, and a strict requirement for operational order can lead to simple mistakes that erase your work and force a reset. It is simply a chore to explore the full problem space, especially when you're trying to put the finishing touches on a half-solution.
Recursed is imposing and unhelpful, brash in its sheer difficulty and endless complications, but it houses one of the most stimulating, bewildering puzzle systems I've ever seen. Successes feel monumental, and sometimes the failures can be similarly astonishing in how they upend your assumptions. To be sent to the paradox world unexpectedly is a humbling feeling, and one that itself is worthy of experiencing. For all it's done to torture me, I maintain that Recursed deserves acclaim beyond its current repute. It is one of the modern greats in its field.
Recursed creates a spectacular system only by recursion and several objects.
But only a few people played it. WHY???????????
What a bummer, I mean. I can't think of any reason for not playing it. Why would a man reject to know the creation by the creator...no, the universe...no, the logic?
But only a few people played it. WHY???????????
What a bummer, I mean. I can't think of any reason for not playing it. Why would a man reject to know the creation by the creator...no, the universe...no, the logic?
This is the hardest puzzle game I have ever played.
Upon completion of all of the level sets, I'm still not sure if that is an overstatement or not! If not, it's the hardest puzzle game I have ever completed.
This game basically leaves no concept, no matter how devious, untouched. It gets so complex, you really have to rewire your brain just to handle it. In my most desperate moments, I tried writing down what was happening, but even that was difficult and in the end I felt like gaining skill with the mechanics was superior to a more methodical, slow approach.
Running into paradoxes was both frustrating and exciting, especially when you don't expect it. On the one hand, you're attempt at the level is dead. On the other, HERE'S ANOTHER TOTALLY DIFFERENT REALLY HARD LEVEL! I think overall I appreciated that an end wasn't completely an end, however...
Losing all your progress in a level can really suck. The set-ups get pretty intricate and if nothing else, re-setting them up becomes a chore. The last thing I want to do after reaching a sort of Game Over state is commit myself to a totally different puzzle.
Other gripe is that this game hardly makes any sort of attempt or even guiding hand towards its more intricate mechanics. It took me far too long to understand how exactly the enchanted items were functioning and how some paradoxes were occurring, and the most help I got was the ring man going "oh geez, looks like something strange is happening here. Oh dear oh my". I stopped using the ring about 10 levels in when I realized it was not really adding to my experience.
Still a great puzzle game. Love it. Just add a rewind feature and it's nearly perfect.
Upon completion of all of the level sets, I'm still not sure if that is an overstatement or not! If not, it's the hardest puzzle game I have ever completed.
This game basically leaves no concept, no matter how devious, untouched. It gets so complex, you really have to rewire your brain just to handle it. In my most desperate moments, I tried writing down what was happening, but even that was difficult and in the end I felt like gaining skill with the mechanics was superior to a more methodical, slow approach.
Running into paradoxes was both frustrating and exciting, especially when you don't expect it. On the one hand, you're attempt at the level is dead. On the other, HERE'S ANOTHER TOTALLY DIFFERENT REALLY HARD LEVEL! I think overall I appreciated that an end wasn't completely an end, however...
Losing all your progress in a level can really suck. The set-ups get pretty intricate and if nothing else, re-setting them up becomes a chore. The last thing I want to do after reaching a sort of Game Over state is commit myself to a totally different puzzle.
Other gripe is that this game hardly makes any sort of attempt or even guiding hand towards its more intricate mechanics. It took me far too long to understand how exactly the enchanted items were functioning and how some paradoxes were occurring, and the most help I got was the ring man going "oh geez, looks like something strange is happening here. Oh dear oh my". I stopped using the ring about 10 levels in when I realized it was not really adding to my experience.
Still a great puzzle game. Love it. Just add a rewind feature and it's nearly perfect.