Minimal Crypt

This game is absolutely brilliant! It's a steal currently at 75% off. Had I known it was this good beforehand, I would have waited to buy it while *not* on sale to support the developer. On first glance, Minimal Crypt looks like a sokoban-like with a handful of novel mechanics. It is that, but the main new mechanic actually introduces a very different dimension to the puzzle solving; it becomes not simply about planning a route, but also requires some higher level reasoning of sequencing to build literal layers of "paint" that makes the traversal possible. Add to that, some puzzles throw a little subterfuge to trip you up further. I won't say any more about that but if you're curious you can read the discussion thread where I asked for a hint (subject "Logical Burden 12 seems impossible") and I got a response from the developer and some of their ideas of how to craft a puzzle. Oh yeah, I should mention the devs are really cool like that. What I am trying to say in a roundabout way is that the puzzle design is really good. I'm about halfway through all the levels. There is a mix of easy and hard. Some of them seem really easy once you figure out the key trick or strategy - but t…

Played on Steam Deck. I appreciate the color blind mode! The puzzles are alright, though it does seem more like a framework for community-generated content, because many of the 64 levels are just explanations of the mechanics, and the final level says "thanks for playing and good luck!" which sounds more like the end of a tutorial. This community framework would be fine except there is no in-game search, and you have to get levels as copy/paste codes from.... somewhere??? The low amount of ramping difficulty puzzles felt very rushed and if there were maybe twice as many with some more natural solutions instead of hard to see sequences it would have felt better but leaning on the crutch of user content without giving a suitable environment makes me regret my time with Minimal Crypt.

[b]TLDR[/b] Interesting abstract grid-based puzzle game, not too challenging, has a level editor but few user-defined levels [14/20⭐, 5h🏅(?h sidegames), 3/5💡] [b]Context[/b] Minimal Crypts is an abstract grid-based puzzle game, where the controllable character must be coloured to pass certain obstacles, with additional mechanics introduced in later levels. [b]Writing[/b] There is no plot, just abstract puzzles to solve. [b]Aesthetics[/b] The design is minimalist and elegant, as usual for modern games of this kind. The soundtrack is pretty decent and low-key, although it can get tiresome in longer play sessions. [b]Gameplay[/b] The main mechanic of Minimal Crypt is that you can colour your character (and, later, obstacles in sokoban-style) with various layers, which are needed to pass through certain tiles. The main twist, in my perspective, is that you can “reset” the map to the initial state while preserving some of those layers. This makes for some pretty challenging puzzles, but nothing overwhelming (although from a few user-designed levels, it’s clear it has the potential to be pretty complex). Although if I’m being honest, level design is a bit rough at times. There are…

A cool and simplistic puzzle game to play whenever you want to get your brain working. The UX/UI is sleek and the mechanics and puzzle design well thought. I have been a long time playtester, hence the small final hour count.

A great puzzle game - simple mechanics, excellently designed and polished levels. I picked this up for a relaxing afternoon on the sofa, absolutely worth it. I think I've completed about half the levels, looking forward to tearing my hair out over the remaining half. The level progression and tutorialisation are spot on, every puzzle feels tractable. Haven't tried it yet but I love that it comes with a level editor, this game is definitely one to aspire to.

Great puzzle game