History repeating

Traynor’s game is the latest in a growing crop of recursive puzzlers, from Manifold Garden to Superliminal. While Traynor says he’s looking forward to the latter, he’s keen to emphasise the differences between those games and his own. “This is less focused on a compelling environment or story – there’s not much to explore here, it’s all about the nittygritty mechanics.” Though a Flash game called Soko Soko first sparked the idea for Parabox, his main influences are the panel puzzles of The Witness and, repeating what has become a common refrain of late,

Stephen’s Sausage Roll. “Programming [this] feels like it’s working the same muscles in my brain as solving a puzzle. I like that feeling, so it’s been a joy.”