Starman

It’s annoying that there are people devaluing the game for not being as long as they had hoped. It almost seems that the person leaving the bad review would much rather find ways to confirm what he wanted to believe than to look at the game as a game, or they looked at the game and compared it to an MMORPG or something else that a casual mobile game can and never will be. Besides, who ever said that a game had to be a long-time investment to be entertaining? I do have a few things that I would like to point out, namely weird framing in a few relatively sine magic shots, like when you get the first orb and you’re standing awkwardly on the side of the screen, and the fact that I stared at the screen in the moment that the orb rose out of the circular floor button (?) thinking it was a cutscene when actually I had to press the orb, along with the other slightly confusing UI, but besides those gripes everything feels very polished. The pathing especially is very smooth and it feels like somehow I’m doing more than clicking the endpoint and letting the movement happen on its own. The atmosphere and music really fit the game and it really makes the time fly.

I loved loved loved this game. Gorgeous, easy controls, great puzzles, good learning curve. This is by far the best game I’ve played in months. Well worth the price. I would easily pay for more levels or a sequel. Please please put out more levels. Highly recommend. I’m just sad it’s over. EDIT: I hate the added level where you wander. In the regular game, everything was pretty intuitive, but in the bonus level, nothing is. I solved a puzzle (the spinning thing with a crank) without understanding how I’d solved it. It gave me a seed, but it wouldn’t plant anywhere (I tried to plant that thing EVERYWHERE) and now it’s gone after leaving the game in frustration for a day. Nothing about the original levels was like this- it feels slapped together. I was delighted to see this addition, but it just isn’t great.

It's worth trying out (especially while Apple has it for free in the Apple Store app). But I'm glad I didn't pay for it. Far too many of the puzzles, even those with interesting solutions, require far too much slow, tedious repetitive steps. Some are marred by the need for trial and error (a real nuisance when everything is so slow) and others by the perversity of the programmers (level 4, in particular, requires you to fail the first time, even when it's obvious what to do, then go through far too much tedious back and forth to try again). The level with the swimming pool appears to have some really critical timing (after the pool) -- a very poor choice when the controls are so clunky. After going through all the (far too many) motions to set it up and being about a second too late I gave up on the game. You can't skp levesl and I'd had enough. In my opinion more attention to making the puzzles feel worth doing would have really paid off. And they should just fix level 4 by making the obvious solution work the first time.

Monochromatic and minimalistic, but not monotonous. Though not terribly original, the puzzles are well-designed, sufficiently varied, and clever. The serene mood helps make for an engaging game. The puzzles are mostly easy to moderately difficult. There were only two spots where I got stuck for more than 10 minutes on a puzzle. Minor criticisms: The few puzzles that required quick action (moving from one switch to another) were somewhat frustrating, in that they disrupted the otherwise calm mood of the game. The game also froze 2-3 times in my play-through, but this doesn't cause you to lose much progress.

All in all this game was beautiful, and I’d say worth the experience. A couple thoughts. First, the character is too slow. It doesn’t *particularly* take away from the game, but it made me feel less immersed as I waited for my character to walk from one end of the map to the other. Add some degree of trial and error, and the game has a decent amount of tediousness. The game also didn’t quite feel consistent. There were times I felt like it was a use-your-finger-to-drag-things-around game, while at other times it preferred to use the character to press buttons. Particularly the levels with portals felt contrived (arbitrarily difficult) — with more use-your-finger mechanics, those levels would have felt much more smooth and consistent. The world was wonderfully crafted! 5 stars for that aspect! Though the gameplay itself wasn’t my favorite, I thoroughly enjoy a game that crafts and beautifully immersive environment, and this game scratched that itch. The world implies vague hints of post-apocalypse, which allows the mind to wander and wonder how it ended up the way it did. I agreed with an earlier reviewer who said it was a kind of mix of Monument Valley and Limbo. Overall a decent game that I’d say would be valued by an average gamer seeking an immersive experience.