Realizing Just How Dumb I Truly Am

I really, really, suck at this game. I'll admit to my score, which was a horrible 54. At least, it feels horrible.

Its obvious where the bulk of that crappy score comes from: A really well designed puzzle game. It makes you think, and it makes you pay for not thinking. It made me feel stupid time and time again for not falling for the same "go in circles until you line up" puzzle, which I don't think I'd completely figure out even the second time through.

But also something that got me, which really shouldn't have, were the reflex puzzles. I'm usually good at these, but the collision detection just didn't seem... right. An obstacle could have been almost completely covering a full other square. So okay... I move, but only to find out that one point on the rolling ball or the spinning disk was on my square. In a 2D game, this collision would have been fixed up with a smaller bounding box. It reminded me of ET. Well, okay, the collision isn't THAT bad, but it frustrated me almost the same. There were many reflex puzzles where I just KNEW I had it right, but that just off collisions detection got me.

Of course the game doesn't fail from a few missed areas like that, but what actually brings it down for me is the presentation. It starts off great, with some boxes falling that I have to click on and some well themed midi music playing to greet me. Once I enter the game though, I wasn't sure how to feel. The game is relatively short, but a few different music themes could play depending on the type of stage you were on. Perhaps it could even heighten the confusion.

There were very few sounds, and what was there felt like a last minute addition. Some stone grinding sounds as the various objects rolled passed through 3D space on my speakers would have been nice, and a lengthened death cry would have added to the "lol" factor. The glass breaking sound felt very unfitting, and the feeling of emptiness in these rooms should have really been explored.

Playing off of "feeling", a few more styled textures would have helped tremendously. Textures of stone blocks and metal for the ground and other objects could easily be found on the internet and some flickering torches with some lighting effects would enhance the mood. A far off wall would have been nice, maybe even a camera that moves as you do, not to conceal any of the level, but to actually show it off a bit better. My brain would have worked better if it became more aerial as I moved further back.

Keyboard controlled menus and joystick/gamepad support would have been really nice. I feel that any game that can use it should use it. Great game though, well deserving of its 3rd place.