Not for everyone, but it was my GotY for 2025, no doubt.
There’s a very valid criticism that the roguelike randomness can introduce a long delay between when you realize the solution to a puzzle and when you get to execute it, which is usually a mood killer for puzzle games. The game balances that out really well, I think, by just having SO MANY puzzles for you to juggle at once, that you can just make a note of the idea you had, and then refocus onto something else, instead of the frustration of not being able to execute your idea right away.
That DOES drop off in the late game, though, when you’ve only got a few puzzled left to pursue. The game tries to balance this by adding more and more ways to manipulate RNG in your favor, the longer you play, but I think it still falls on the side of not enough.
On a more fundamental note, just the puzzles themselves are all REALLY well-made. And they all get a big buff to satisfaction by being woven into a really fascinating narrative.
Not for everyone, but it was my GotY for 2025, no doubt.
There’s a very valid criticism that the roguelike randomness can introduce a long delay between when you realize the solution to a puzzle and when you get to execute it, which is usually a mood killer for puzzle games. The game balances that out really well, I think, by just having SO MANY puzzles for you to juggle at once, that you can just make a note of the idea you had, and then refocus onto something else, instead of the frustration of not being able to execute your idea right away.
That DOES drop off in the late game, though, when you’ve only got a few puzzled left to pursue. The game tries to balance this by adding more and more ways to manipulate RNG in your favor, the longer you play, but I think it still falls on the side of not enough.
On a more fundamental note, just the puzzles themselves are all REALLY well-made. And they all get a big buff to satisfaction by being woven into a really fascinating narrative.