MindLoop

MindLoop is a really clever little puzzle game that I ended up enjoying more than I expected. The whole idea is built around solving a password and defusing a bomb while working under a very strict time limit. Each attempt gives me a short window to look around, spot clues and work out what they mean. I normally do not think of very short puzzle games as being particularly intense, but MindLoop manages to create quite a bit of pressure from such a simple idea. The main mechanic is the deduction. I have to look at the scene carefully and collect different clues before putting the information together into the final code. The puzzles can involve maths, logic, patterns and ciphers, so I cannot always rely on the same way of thinking. I liked this because the game rewards actually paying attention rather than just clicking around until something works. When I finally understand how several clues connect, it gives me that satisfying feeling of having figured something out myself. The time limit is probably my favourite part of the game. Having so little time means I cannot spend ages staring at every detail. At first I found myself rushing and missing things, but after a few attempts …

Fun! Took me about 30 minutes (at least that's what it said, steam says 1 hour). There's a couple puzzles where if you need to know very basic knowledge about the theme of the puzzle, so you might have to google. I got stuck on one particular puzzle because of an implied extra correlation that didn't exist, causing me to overthink it. The timer doesn't really quite add much to it. You're given 40 seconds before the bomb goes off, but you can pick up pretty close to where you left off, and some of the puzzles even remember exactly the inputs you had done. I also find it a bit jarring to finish a chain of puzzles and be sent back to the start menu as if I had defused the bomb. What I think would've worked better was starting from complete scratch at the start, and getting a time bonus or resetting the timer for every puzzle solved. Perhaps randomly generating each number on every run. I like the music too, doesn't stand out intensely but it's enjoyable. This game is just begging for secret achievement and lots of little hidden easter eggs and side puzzles. Good stuff!

Great and short little puzzle game.

Great free game, very similar to that button game

Puzzle like the flash days.

nice difficulty level