My gaze has been locked unflinchingly on the screen for several long minutes now. I stare, as if a chess Grand Master, contemplating not just my next move but many dozens ahead. One wrong turn now and I might as well restart. Goddamn that flower!
Puzzle Dimension is a puzzle game centred about moving a marble through a tiled level and collecting flowers before heading for an exit portal. Although required, this trite description does little to convey its mind bending qualities. Seemingly simple levels turn labyrinthine, rolling up curving strands of tiles can cause the wall to become the floor, and multitudes of special tiles hamper your marble on route to its goal. At times, it’s if M. C. Escher had gotten a hold of Marble Madness.
Do not be alarmed, newcomer; these babblings are caused by extended exposure to later levels. Early stages ease you in gently, with simple, flat layouts, slowly building the complexity in an astute manner that will teach you the skills to crack any puzzle. Special tiles are introduced as you progress, though gradually so as not to overwhelm, and take their inspiration from classic gaming elements. Ice blocks will cause marbles to skid out of control, cracked tiles allow a single visit before crumbling away, fire pits wait to torch your precious sphere, and switches control anything from vanishing blocks to spikes.
Puzzles, however, are nothing without considered design, and Doctor Entertainment executes this in superb fashion. Within each of the ten “worlds” that divide up the 100 levels, there is a well-pitched progression that at first introduces new tiles and then proceeds to build on them, both in terms of interest and challenge. Some of the later stages are not for the feint hearted, but the structure is such that by the time you become truly stuck you will have probably opened up another world should you need a distraction.
Thankfully, handling you marble in these testing circumstances is straightforward. It’s not physics based, so when you prod it one direction it will only move one square; this is a game that hinges on puzzle solving, not twitch reactions. Speed runs can be tried so as to rack up high scores, but the ability just to sit, stare and contemplate is something I found most welcome.
Visually, the tiled worlds are just as interesting as the puzzles they contain. When each level is begun, the scenery is rendered as if created from pixels, very much akin to 3D Dot Heroes. As you roll about, any tile or object you come close to changes into a high resolution, polygonal model. The same is true with the music, starting out as 8-bit chip tunes and evolving through to modern day clarity. Though this may be a reward to some, the retro obsession that seems commonplace in this day and age did make me wish that this transformation could be flipped on its head.
Puzzle Dimension is the epitome of a game where the longer you spend with it, the more you will get of it. Early levels are simple for a reason: the designers don’t want to scare you away. Before too long you’ll be dancing your marbles over precariously thin ice bridges, bouncing them off springed tiles and navigating through impossible mazes that take in the walls, the ceiling and even the flip side of the “floor” you’re standing on. Gravity may be relative in Puzzle Dimension, but what’s certain is that this is a puzzle experience you should not pass up.
I make my living as a programmer at a British games developer. In my spare time I try and spread myself between writing, gaming, drumming, goalkeeping, rolling dice and keeping my hair blue. Somewhere around that my wife fits in.
Disclaimer: the views expressed are my own and do not neccessarily reflect those of my employer. "
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