Any game with an aspect of puzzle solving as opposed to just straight maiming and killing (which is also pretty awesome) really grabs my attention. While strategy isn’t my forte, with most of my tactics being “Run straight in guns blazing”, anti chamber almost changed that for me.
As a puzzle game, it’s very well thought out. Some of the puzzles can’t be solved until you solve others, some puzzles go on for the entire game…. When I thought I should just be solving puzzles as I found them, I should have been assessing their strategic importance, in the larger scheme of the game. While some games claim to say that “there is more than one way to play and finish the game”, I feel that anti chamber really captured the feeling of being able to do what you wanted as you wanted. It shoves you straight in, with cryptic hints and misleading signs. But in this way, it helps you defeat the game as you go on, learning to take nothing at face value. Its a game that makes you feel like an idiot, but doesn’t treat you like one.
Ha, screw you all and your sense of ‘art’. I have my gallery how I want!
The art and mechanics of the game are beautiful. As with the art, the game play becomes more and more complex as you play through. Attaining items and solving puzzles fit seamlessly into each other. It’s not so much the feeling of opening a chest, but a real sense of achievement that you completed that part of the puzzle. Its less about what you find, and more about your thought process behind figuring out this maze.
All in all, this game is deliciously hard, and mentally challenging in both puzzle and strategy aspects.
Pros:
Beautiful art
Alternative to basic puzzle or strategy games
Simple mechanics and items
A sense of real reward without the need for things like chests, gold or other items
Actually takes a long time to play, as opposed to other puzzle games.
Cons:
Cryptic clues may cause violent outburts
Objects near by you may be flung at those who break your concentration while playing this game
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