Hexelectric

the developer's previous game, [b]rowrow[/b], had a good concept, but it was executed horribly ([url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1001200/]my review[/url] has details), and this also started out pretty broken, but after a few patches it's mostly good now, except the sound of undo is sometimes a lot louder than at other times, and there's no way to turn off the 3d-glasses-required effect on the border of the screen that makes your eyes bleed after a few seconds. and it'd be good to have a settings button in the main menu instead of hiding it in the corner of the credits screen, though pressing esc works too. this time we're rotating hexagons to power or unpower them and ultimately electrify everything. the graphics are great (save for the 3d thing), the ui is good, though the screen is a bit busy sometimes, the audio is non-intrusive (save for the undo noise that can scare the pants off you), and the 150 levels will keep you occupied for a long time. there are separate volume sliders, windowed mode, resolution options, and simple controls: left and right click rotates hexes clockwise or counter-clockwise. after about the halfway point there's nothing new to see…

The game is pretty fun at first - you rotate hex tiles to power adjacent tiles, while trying to avoid overpowering other nearby tiles. There are some cool concepts in here, but by the halfway part of the game you have seen everything. The final few levels are also essentially impossible to complete and suffer from "Trial and Error" syndrome to an absurd degree, so if you want to actually complete the game, you will probably be out of luck. The first 10 or so chapters though are pretty good, and for the reasonable price you can find some entertainment here - but since it is essentially not possible to actually complete this game, it gets a thumbs down. Games should be completeable, but not even the walkthrough guide on youtube managed to get through the final chapter, if you can believe it.

Now you've done it. While doing whatever it is that space engineers do, a hex was placed upon you by a celestial witch. Regardless of what unholy act you perpetrated to receive such a punishment, you must play the hand you were dealt. Finish your space engineer gig while dealing with the limitation of the hex: The ability to turn knobs in only six specific directions. [b][u]The Good[/u][/b]: [list] [*]The game is fairly challenging. [*]The challenge actually ramps up instead of going all over the place. [*]Does a good job of showing new gameplay elements and letting you figure those out before moving on and incorporating new ones. [*]Worth the $3 price tag. [/list] [b][u]The Neutral[/u][/b]: [list] [*]Tandem movements for certain knobs. [/list] [b][u]The Bad[/u][/b]: [list] [*]The visuals are static throughout the game. It would have been nice to see some variation. [*]The soundtrack is very limited. [/list] [b][u]Pro Tips[/u][/b]: [list] [*]If you get stuck in the levels that have tandem knobs, sometimes it helps to start with those and get them all in sync first. [*]There isn't always just one solution. [/list] This is an example of a difficult game with a simple concept. E…

Video shows it all, so I'll limit it to my impression. The experience overall was nice, but a difficulty curve could have been smoother. The later puzzles, built around path dependency and long-distance connections, tend to be hit-or-miss: some are surprisingly easy, several others are somewhat irritating.

It's an okay puzzler. I bought it because it looked very pretty and the concept seemed interesting. It was, but only for a while. Can't complain at this price, though.

Simple, but fun.