The Janus Problem

Very good puzzle game for a single dev! The game is actually pretty good, a bit of portal and a bit of C.U.B.E. I can already see a bit of speedrunning in this games future!

The Janus Problem is engaging, challenging and fun. I headed into this thinking "Oh, I'm good at puzzles. This shouldn't be too bad"... fast forward 30 minutes later and I've unknowingly trapped myself for the 3rd time because of my apparent poor sequencing abilities. This game is challenging but super enjoyable. It is built so that players utilize skills they've learned in previous levels as they advance forwards. It's extremely rewarding to get through each phase and use each new skills effectively. Put shortly, this game is just shy of genius. Did it make me want to (respectfully) throw my computer across the room at times? Yea, sure. But that's the fun of it. The reward is so much greater when you have to really work at it.

The Janus Problem explores such an underexplored puzzle genre. I like it a lot. The primary puzzle mechanic is time. But never time pressure. You can really focus on the puzzles themselves so its an experience that reminds me of those "dissasemble this intricate wooden thing" puzzles you see at game stores. The levels are short and build nicely on eachother, too. You always know you have the practice to solve the current puzzle even if it's really challenging. I had to stare at a few of them for a while before figuring out an approach. There aren't any hints, either, which I like. It's very gratifying to solve the trickier levels after messing them up a few times. The game took me about 2.5 hours to get through, but I haven't gotten the ideal score on the levels yet. Apparently you can beat some of the puzzles with no time checkpoints/warppoints at all?? I will update when I've solved them optimally. In any case, I think it's definitely a game worth playing if you love a good puzzle.

I had the pleasure of playtesting this game pre-release and thoroughly enjoyed it! It's a fresh and inspired take on a portal-style puzzle game, and the time-checkpoint mechanic is unique and fun. The difficulty curve is challenging but not unreasonably so. My only complaint is that there aren't even more levels, but the length is excellent for the price, and offers plenty of replayability, especially if you're into speedrunning.