Long Tail

Great puzzle game where you have to aim a line (called a pass) to have it pass through a block, and keep going but make sure you don't paint yourself into a corner and find out at the end that's there's a block that you can't get to because your passes have blocked it in. That has happened to me so many times. Prepare to have to redo levels many times until you are able to finish. And there's no one right way or path, you can choose to go wherever you want. If you want to get a "Perfect" rating, however, you have to pass through a block each time you make a line, which is difficult. In that sense there is probably one way to do it to get a perfect but my point is you can still play the game and finish a level as long as all the blocks have been gone through. The early levels do a great job of introducing the concept of what you're supposed to do. Then it starts to get more difficult. Later spikes are introduced (of course! gotta have spikes) that are an instant kill if you hit them. I can't wait to find out what else is in store in the later levels. And that brings me to another positive element in the game: on the level select screen you can select ANY level you want! T…

[b]april 2023 edit:[/b] 8 new levels and a new mechanic. [b]long tail[/b] is a minimalist [b]draw a single line puzzler with a twist[/b]. normally these take place on a grid, gotta find a way to cover all the tiles, maybe even connect dots of different colors, etc. in this case though, you're collecting coins scattered around all sorts of layouts by dashing around, [b]no grid to stick to[/b]. sounds like a cakewalk, you say? well... there are [b]50 levels[/b], all unlocked from the start, and you can take your time with small steps, as it were, and eventually succeed, especially with [b]unlimited undo[/b] at your disposal, working even after running into spikes and dying or finishing the level. the challenge, optimal as it may be, comes from making sure [b]every move grabs at least one shiny, resulting in a perfect solution[/b]. no timing, timer or move counter, if there are 10 coins it doesn't matter if you grab them one by one in 10 moves or 2 at a time in 5 moves. and it's probably obvious from the title, but [b]your tail doesn't disappear[/b], much like in classic [i]snake[/i], so can't exactly dash around willy-nilly. an important distinction is [b]you can dash into your ow…

(Обзор на русском тут: [url=https://kknights.com/posts/2562-long-tail-odnim-roscherkom-cherez-shipy-zerkala-i-portaly]> тыц <[/url]) A small step-by-step puzzle that's a little harder than it looks. • In each step, we draw a line from the previous point and make a new wall. The goal is to collect all dots. + 42 levels: the firsts use a fancy geometry — then spikes, reflections and teleports are added. + Freedom: most levels have several solutions, you can solve levels in any orders. + Fast undo and restart. The lighting helps to see possible moves. + Small price on sales. = To get a level achievement, you must collect a dot at each step. Most levels are OK, but a few had exploded my brain and I spent an hour to solve each of them using tricks. 🤯 – I'd preferred to see more game mechanics. (The game was received as a gift).

Intuitive geometry/kinetic puzzle game. The undo button and shadow system showing what is within your reach make this very easy to use. There is no "correct" solution since there is leeway in the way that each piece is collected, it's not on a grid so the cumulative difference in angles of each shot can lead to some tight but unexpected solutions. That freedom to be creative is what I like about this game while still keeping it puzzly. Cool music too.

Includes the blessed undo-last-move button with no usage restriction. I could never see the intended routes in games, so I resort to using the undo often; here it was for some micro-adjustment to barely brush a coin - just enough to collect it and get a better angle on the next one. Coins conveniently light up when aiming to indicate successful collection if travelling along the chosen trajectory. Later levels include spiky walls which cannot be touched, rubber walls which cause rebounds, and portals. Eight more levels introducing removable walls have been added in an update; these walls disappear upon collection of a certain number of coins. Getting 50 perfect passes took seven and a half hours.

I like it, it feels like the real challenge is to get a "coin" (didn't know coins could be square) on every line but the game doesn't force you to complete it like that, which is good because getting a coin on each line can be insanely hard even at the early levels. Good visuals for a small little game like this, really like that you emit light which shows you where you can shoot.