The Dweller

I was honestly surprised how fun this actually was. Shame they have removed it on steam.

[h1] Control wurm like creature which dive underground. Goal is to swallow all explorers. You can move freely in soil, do short dive and push boxes. It plays like a puzzle game. Not a big fan of this one. Level design is lacking. Boring to play and bland scenery make this one a bad choice rather than something at least mediocre. Not recommended. [/h1]

I bought it just for the trading cards a long time ago, but I didn't expect it to be fun enough to make me beat all the levels. The story notes are also a nice little addition.

This seems like something that would have served as inspiration for [url=store.steampowered.com/app/953490/CARRION/]CARRION[/url], as in: you play as the horror monster that people run away from, instead of running from it yourself. This is structured in levels, and you have to kill or scare away every human in each level to win. There are also some character written notes you unlock that give you a small simple story. Your monster can only move inside the ground, and eat the humans from below. You can also possess boulders and use them to move around and crush people. Later on, some new mechanics get introduced, but you can figure those out on your own. You mostly only need to use your mouse to move, it's really simple to understand. But the real challenge/fun comes from how you can so easily realise you have no ground or boulder to reach the last human(s). So yeah, this is a puzzle game, you have to figure out a route through each 2D level in order to not lock yourself out of some area. You choose where in the level you will spawn, and move between different ground sections by pushing the boulders that you possess to new places. If you realise you're stuck, you can press R to i…

There's a big difficulty spike on level 14, but I promise that the solution is very pleasing to figure out and the game really starts to open up with new mechanics shortly after! This is one of the best puzzle games I've played in a long time, it has the three great properties a puzzle game should: - [b]Paradox[/b]: Moments where you think a level is impossible until you think of a lateral move that lets you see a level in a new light. Good difficulty curve design is important here to give the player critical "Eureka" moments and not endless frustration. - [b]Execution[/b]: once you realize the solution, carrying it out is easy and quick, no long pointless steps or "grind". Instantly resetting the level/puzzle is also important here. - [b]Theme[/b]: The environs, music, setting, etc are fun or interesting. And yet another important thing is to have a story or other reward that the player wants to see more of to motivate them. I really recommend sticking with the levels and avoiding looking up guides, I promise that they're solvable and all the more rewarding for doing it yourself! One of the best things about puzzle games like this is how you can practically feel your brai…

Tricky puzzle game with good level diversity