Gorogoa

Beautiful game. Loved the layering mechanic of the grid. However, for a game app that took me less than an hour and a half to complete, I feel like the price is not justified, I've paid less in the past for game apps that have lasted far longer. I'll happily retract the statement if it's on the road map for more, and I would mean much more content to be dropped through updates. Otherwise, it's neat, but I wouldn't have bought it if I'd known it was so short.

I feel like calling this game a work of art does it a disservice, because it suggests nothing more than an impressive visual style. Don't get me wrong, the game looks beautiful, but it's the completely original gameplay mechanics which elevate Gorogoa to something truly exceptional. The narrative is intrinsically linked to the puzzles so by solving you're not completing a side challenge, the method by which you proceed helps you understand the underlying themes of the game. Total masterpiece.

This game gives you pretty much nothing in terms of a tutorial or instructions, which makes it very much a matter of going with instincts and following the natural learning curve. I was tempted almost on starting to look up some kind of guide for at least the first level, despite the other reviews, then I thought, wait, do I slide that picture on top of that one? That lines up with that part there...so...oh...so that's how it works!... ....and suddenly first bit of progress happened. Been playing for about half an hour on and off as keep getting stuck, then I look back to the game and see something somewhere that fits somewhere else on the screen, which so far is the basic premise of the game. The puzzle I just did was a classic, but the other reviews are right; don't spoil it for yourself by using any kind of guide. It's been satisfying so far working out what the very hell I'm supposed to even do, and still on that learning curve which makes the game interesting. Got stuck again for a couple of minutes, then looked back while typing this review and the solution became obvious. It's very linear in progress, but it's fairly abstract. Only been playing for maybe an hour and most of that was not active play, but intrigued to see where the game goes from here. A "Portal" version of this might be interesting, and very different with the same game mechanics. EDIT: Holy LOL! Only just watched the game trailer on the page here, and yeah, that would have saved some time and wondering. It explains the game mechanics, but I started without seeing that and had to figure out what to do myself.