Bajo speaks: Puzzle me this

WHY DO CHALLENGING PUZZLE GAMES CAPTIVATE US SO COMPLETELY? [ STEVEN ‘BAJO’ O’DONNELL ]

WHENEVER I THINK about playing a puzzle game, the lazy Bajo inside me goes, “Whyyyy? Why put yourself through torture? Why hurt your tired brain? Why not play Peggle instead and lose yourself to the simple, joyful colours and satisfying bleeps and bloops?!” And yet, good puzzle games can own our time more than any other genre.

There are two types of puzzlers. Games like Braid and The Witness — which arguably aren’t actually fun to play, but are still totally compelling for other reasons, and impressive for their complexity and cunning. And games like Portal and Inside, which offer a more accessible challenge, but retain a solid sense of satisfaction and progress.

Staring over the shoulder of mobile gamers is one of my favourite creeping pastimes. 9 times out of 10 (if they aren’t rabidly catching squirtles in Pokémon GO), they’re playing Candy Crush. Ew.

Seriously, ew. It’s an ew game. It looks ew. It sounds ew. Worst of all, it makes you wait before you can play again, in an attempt to suck cash from your wallet. I mean no offence if you love the game, but seriously... it’s gross.

Personally, for on-the-go puzzling, I prefer Puzzle Quest, made by Aussie developer Infinite Interactive. It’s still my favourite portable/mobile game of all time, because it hits so many satisfying notes. Based on Bejewelled, the basic gameplay is to match gems. But it has this excellent layer of role-playing to it as well. You level up classes, cast spells, and generally make gems cascade in glorious fashion until you’ve beaten your enemy. I mention this game, because it consumed all my free time, wherever I was, for a solid year. But why?

MARVEL PUZZLE QUEST

iOS, Android, Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Whatever your poison, there’s something satisfying about solving logic problems. If you’re the kind of completionist who needs to reach 100% every game, they can be the perfect obsession. Even if you aren’t one of those guys, being presented with a puzzle and knowing the solution is right there in front of you is a tantalising proposition.

Especially in 2016. The interface design issues of older games like Myst or old point-and-click adventures are a thing of the past. Today, puzzle games are even more popular with non-gamers or irregular players. When you boil it all down, puzzles are gaming in its purest form. Pristine, clean-cut logic challenges that our brains desire to feast on. Maybe we love them because they distract us from the chaos of real life which is full of unsolvable problems like how to use the ATO’s tax website, or trying to free up space on our parents’ iCloud devices, or why TV remote controls are still so complicated? Seriously, someone get Elon Musk on that one.

Perhaps solving puzzles is just something our brains actually need to do. Pattern recognition is one of the major steps in human evolution. We evolved to fix things, to put things together, and eventually, one day, we will make a remote control that isn’t completely black with tiny stupid buttons that make no sense.

2016 has been great for brain busters, with something to frustrate and delight gamers from all walks of life.

THE WITNESS

PS4, PC From Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid, comes The Witness. This ambitious openworld puzzler is set on a deserted island. Most of what you do in this game is guide a line from one point to another, but that’s much harder than it sounds. The solutions surrounding the problems this game presents to you are exquisite.

HEADLANDER

PC, PS4 Headlander was created by the Double Fine Productions, makers of delightful games such as Broken Age, Costume Quest and Psychonauts. It’s a Metroidvania-ish puzzle platformer with a funky sci-fi ‘70s theme. You’re a head in a jar basically, and able to detach and reattach to robots to complete objectives. Neat!

SNAKEBIRD

PC, IOS, Android What happens when you combine a snake with a bird? You get a brainhurty jerk of a game that I highly recommend. ere’s something about a charming, fun-looking game that is actually very mean and completely evil.

STEPHEN’S SAUSAGE ROLL

Windows, OSX, Linux Stephen’s Sausage Roll has the best video game title in years, but also makes me want to cry and bash my head into the screen. Your objective is to cook sausages by pushing and ipping them using Stephen’s giant fork. Sounds simple, but this game is diabolical in its execution, and you have to respect how complex the solutions are.

INSIDE

XBOX one, PC, PS4 Inside is a puzzle platformer from the makers of Limbo, and has similarly dark in theme. You play a small boy who gets caught up in a government conspiracy of sorts, but saying any more about the story would be spoiler city. Developer Play Dead have hit the di culty range perfectly with Inside. ere’s real challenge, but no puzzle overstays it’s welcome or feels d dly. You inherently know what to do, and it gives you just the right amount of push back to make the experience satisfying. You’ll be discussing the ending with those around you the moment you nish.

QUADRILATERAL COWBOY

PC, OSX, Linux Quadrilateral Cowboy is set in a bleak, surreal hacking world full of cyber espionage. It’s from developer Blendo Games, makers of the excellent narrative experience 30 Flights of Loving. You’re part of a group of hackers, who go on various heists to obtain les and safes. But the only way to get them is to plonk down your own old-school terminal and literally type out commands. You really do feel like you’re hacking systems and going ‘into the Matrix’ at times, without needing to know a thing about hacking or coding.

There’s hundreds of puzzles, and while you don’t need to complete them all to nish the game, you will almost de nitely get stuck and scream. That’s fun, though... right?

There’s a stack of Puzzle Quest versions out there now. The rst and second games are still my favourite, but Marvel Puzzle Quest is flashy and fun.

Inside is full of care and attention to detail. The crisp and bleak visuals are fascinating to experience. It’s a perfect game to recommend for all gamers, and non-gamers alike.

Snakebird came out on PC in , but recently had an iOS and Android release.

Headlander isn’t too hard, and full of Double Fine’s usual charming design. There’s also a lot of lasers.

The best way to describe this game is that it’s a tactile experience. You feel like you’re actually doing the hacking work, in a totally satisfying way.

You have to tip your hat to how insanely di cult this game makes cooking a sausage.