DISCLAIMER:
This review is entirely for my own sake. You are welcome to read it but it may or may not contain spoilers for the whole game.
I went in with no expectations, really. In fact, I do not even remember where I found out about this game, I just know that it's been on my "to play later" list for a while and I finally decide to crack it open. And I'm glad I did, because it was highly enjoyable.
The game has around 150 cryptography puzzles that vary in both complexity and difficulty. This is to be expected as the game is intended to be a non-linear experience. Many times you will find yourself stumped on a puzzle that makes no sense, only to later find a clue in an unrelated thread that makes everything fall into place.
It's worth pointing out that the game gives you all the tools you need to solve puzzles without having to open a browser with 10 tabs to translate morse, binary, hex, etc. The only exceptions I had to make were for a couple of anagrams I was personally struggling with and for one morse code without spaces. (The ammount of possibilities is just to great to do it by hand)
The game does have a hint system. There are 3 hints available for each puzzle (that totals over 300 hand-crafted hints) and their only ! cost is time. First hint takes a minute to unlock, second takes 2, and third takes 3. I assume this is to encourage more thinking on the same puzzle or on a different one during the wait. The problem is that the hints' usefulness is highly variable. Hint 1 usually just points out what is the useful data you should be looking at, hint 2 tends to mention which tool to use or the amount of characters, and hint 3 tells you the specific trick of the puzzle without giving away the answer. So it's annoying when you are stuck on a puzzle and after waiting for a hint it just says "six red letters." Yes I know that, but what do I do with them? And then I have to wait for another hint to say "Use a tool." Of course, but which one?
Lore-wise, it's a very simple "AI gone rogue" story, but it does the job and it surprisigly doesn't seem to have evil intentions. Serviceable, but not a strong suit.
I would have appreciated it if the game had any sort of audio. A background track and some sound puzzles would have been welcome. So feel free to play this with a playlist of your choice running.
! The ending does take into consideration the amount of hints used, but after seeing all endings the difference is so minor that it's not worth bothering to avoid hints.
Overall, I had tons of fun with the puzzles and the non-linearity made it feel metroidvania-esque at times. If it ever gets a paid release, I'll buy it day one. Highly recommended for puzzle lovers.
This review is entirely for my own sake. You are welcome to read it but it may or may not contain spoilers for the whole game.
I went in with no expectations, really. In fact, I do not even remember where I found out about this game, I just know that it's been on my "to play later" list for a while and I finally decide to crack it open. And I'm glad I did, because it was highly enjoyable.
The game has around 150 cryptography puzzles that vary in both complexity and difficulty. This is to be expected as the game is intended to be a non-linear experience. Many times you will find yourself stumped on a puzzle that makes no sense, only to later find a clue in an unrelated thread that makes everything fall into place.
It's worth pointing out that the game gives you all the tools you need to solve puzzles without having to open a browser with 10 tabs to translate morse, binary, hex, etc. The only exceptions I had to make were for a couple of anagrams I was personally struggling with and for one morse code without spaces. (The ammount of possibilities is just to great to do it by hand)
The game does have a hint system. There are 3 hints available for each puzzle (that totals over 300 hand-crafted hints) and their only ! cost is time. First hint takes a minute to unlock, second takes 2, and third takes 3. I assume this is to encourage more thinking on the same puzzle or on a different one during the wait. The problem is that the hints' usefulness is highly variable. Hint 1 usually just points out what is the useful data you should be looking at, hint 2 tends to mention which tool to use or the amount of characters, and hint 3 tells you the specific trick of the puzzle without giving away the answer. So it's annoying when you are stuck on a puzzle and after waiting for a hint it just says "six red letters." Yes I know that, but what do I do with them? And then I have to wait for another hint to say "Use a tool." Of course, but which one?
Lore-wise, it's a very simple "AI gone rogue" story, but it does the job and it surprisigly doesn't seem to have evil intentions. Serviceable, but not a strong suit.
I would have appreciated it if the game had any sort of audio. A background track and some sound puzzles would have been welcome. So feel free to play this with a playlist of your choice running.
! The ending does take into consideration the amount of hints used, but after seeing all endings the difference is so minor that it's not worth bothering to avoid hints.
Overall, I had tons of fun with the puzzles and the non-linearity made it feel metroidvania-esque at times. If it ever gets a paid release, I'll buy it day one. Highly recommended for puzzle lovers.