Skyscrapers Puzzle: Airi's tale

I am absolutely enchanted with this game. It looks like a simple Sudoku knock-off, but it is a cleverly crafted mechanic that feels totally different. You are looking at a top-down grid where the outside numbers represent different-sized skyscrapers visible from that number. For example, the nuumber 1 means that only one skyscraper can be seen from that vantage point; thus, it must be the tallest (represented by a 4 inside the grid). The interface is simple, but elegant. The mechanics aren't explained, but left-click brings up a wheel with numbers 1-4 that you can place, while right-clicking brings up a similar wheel, but places them as if in "pencil" mode (the numbers will be smaller so you can work through solutions). There is no undo, but you can overwrite numbers as often as needed. Skyscrapers does not notify you if you've made a mistake, so you can't "game" the game by placing random numbers in the grid; if you mess up, you'll be well and truly stuck. I appreciate this, but some players might miss the option to turn on such hints. It will save multiple boards on exit, which is a nice addition. Another great touch is that, when the difficulty ramps up, multiple solutions a…

Skyscrapers or High Rise is one of those less well known Japanese logic puzzles but they are great fun. It is not at all similar to Sudoku except for the fact that they both use numbers. [code]PUZZLE INFO: - Each row or column can never have a building with the same height - Numbers outside the grid tells you how many buildings can be seen from that side - Taller buildings block shorter ones eg. in a row 21453, viewing from the left you will see 3 buildings (245) viewing from the right you will see 2 buildings (35) All puzzles can be solved with logic alone. There is never a need to guess. [/code] What you see from the screenshots is what you get. The layout is really that simplistic but it does includes all the basic yet important features one would require in a puzzle game: - notation system - mid puzzle progress is saved automatically - handcrafted puzzles - windowed mode is possible - turning off sounds & music is possible - extra: random level generator = unlimited puzzles I was actually surprised to find a digital adaptation and on steam to boot. This game however added in a (really redundant) visual novel on the side. To be honest, I skimmed through as the plot was cr…

If you like difficult sudoku but you're kind of tired of it, this might be the perfect challenge and length of puzzle game for you. I love the logic of the skyscraper concept, and best of all, you never have to guess. It took me several hours to solve every puzzle in the "story" (I didn't even bother with the random puzzle generator) and since the scratch work feature works fine, I never had to get out a piece of paper or backtrack. Okay, actually on one puzzle I took a picture of my work in case I screwed it up, but other than that, every puzzle was satifying to work out on screen. Then there's the visual novel element. I found that part to be completely pointless. I clicked my way through to find every achievement, but it's about 15 minutes of game time and tacked on just to give some color to an otherwise drab series of puzzle boards. I guess anime-style girls sell games, but there is literally one choice (of no consequence because you are really just picking which scene to see first) and one "puzzle" (where you just follow the instructions) to get the good ending. The good ending is just a way of saying you finished enough of the number grids. You have to try to find t…

A surprizingly fun game that is sorta like a cross between "Logic Problems" and math quizzes from school from a long time ago. What you do is line them up so you can only see so far based on "Height". For instance, a "4" is the highest while a "1" is the absolute smallest of the "4" set of puzzles. What you do is that you need to figure out which numbers go where, based solely on the clues they give you. Yeah, I'm enjoying it and I highly suggest it. I do regret buying it for just .15 of a dollar from here...the game deserved better but in my review, I would rather have the game maker get a dime over nothing from the readers and this review could be deleted from the Steam platform if need be. http://www.dailyindiegame.com/content_marketplace.html I'm past the "4" section and I didn't even know there was a storyline to it, I may restart and play it again as the game is quite fun but good luck in remembering the puzzles after finishing them and moving on.

It is not often I find an unknown gem but this is one of them. Airi's tale is essentially a harder version of Sudoku where you need to fill in cells according to certain rules. There is a 'random' mode where you can play to your heart's content, but the game's ~50 levels are hand crafted by the developers. I have to say that at first I found it very easy (ie, the 4x4 grids) but by the end of the 6x6 grids they presented a decent challenge. Around half of my ~7 hour playtime is beating the last handful of levels. I believe all the levels are designed to be 100% solvable by using logic, but I did have to do a single guess on the final level. The game is designed in a way where you are constantly figuring out new ways to eliminate options and that is pretty cool (while I didn't count, there are way more ways than in Sudoku for example). Like some of the other reviews I am also very puzzled by the light VN elements. This game is 98% puzzle game, 2% VN. There is maybe 5-10 minutes of 'story' that is hidden if you press the lower left corner of the screen. I have to assume it was originally intended to be a larger part but scaled back near the end. The artwork is pretty nice and the pre…

A puzzle game which contains a visual novel that progresses if you solve puzzles. This puzzle game is a bit similar to sudoku, but its take is slightly different. I suggest you check out and understand the tutorial before you solve puzzles. Or at least accompany it with the 1st few 4x4 puzzle to get a grasp on it. The 4x4 you can do it rather easily, but the 5x5 and 6x6 grids are not so easy and might have several solutions. I dont know if it takes more than 1 solution to consider it solved. Its not a bad game. You can also write hints just like on sudoku, by using the right click, to help you out.