[Steam] Welcome to the deep "swamp" ....... Featuring masterpiece PC puzzle games you'll want to keep solving forever!

How are you doing, Akiba Research Institute readers? I am Nero Hyakkabe, a writer who buys too many games. Recently, I've been so addicted to "Atsumare Animal Crossing" that none of the more than 300 games in my game stack have been digested. I was going to say something like "I have indigestion due to too much animal protein," but it's not that bad, so you can pretend you didn't hear me say that.

• Items
• 1. "Hexcells Infinite," a hexagonal minesweeper with an automatic problem generation function for unlimited play
• 2. "SiNKR /Sizemel," a minimalist puzzle with a pleasant piano soundtrack
• 3. "LineWay," a simple yet stylish healing single-stroke puzzle
• 4. "Blow against each other! Blastboard, a billiard-like color-matching puzzle

Now, let's get down to business. First of all, do you like puzzle games?

There are many kinds of puzzles in the standard genre, such as falling object puzzles like "Tetris," "Puyopuyo," and "Dr. Mario," pencil puzzles like Sudoku, Illustration Logic, and Crossword, and action puzzles like "Lemmings" and "Road Runner.

The secret behind the popularity of these puzzles is the thrill of solving them. Because of their simplicity, puzzle games can be played by anyone, regardless of age, gender, or game familiarity, and provide a great sense of accomplishment when solved. It is a swamp genre.

I am a Tetris freak who likes to talk about the history of Tetris, and I am also a biased trainer who only plays Sudoku on the Switch version of Brain Training. Let me introduce you to a masterpiece puzzle game available on the PC gaming platform Steam.

Hexcells Infinite "

• Hexcells Infinite" by Matthew Brown
• Released on September 2, 2014
• Price: 498 yen (as of March 24, 2020)
• (C) 2014 Matthew Brown

If you've ever used a Windows PC, you've surely played the world-famous puzzle game, Minesweeper. Even if you don't know what it is called, you have probably seen the game screen at least once, with numbers and flags written on a grid-like field of squares laid out like a sheet of square paper.

Minesweeper is a logic puzzle game in which you use the numbers as clues to find the squares where mines are buried.

Hexcells Infinite" has a stylish and intellectual atmosphere that eliminates unnecessary elements.

The objective of this simple game is to fill all yellow cells on the board with blue (left click) or black (right click) using the numbers written in the cells and outside the cells as clues. The number written in a cell indicates "the number of blue cells next to it.

For example, in the following problem.

The cell marked "6" will have all blue around it, and conversely, the cell marked "0" will be determined to be all black around it. Also, since there are only three cells around the "3", all the cells there are also determined to be blue. At the same time, the blue next to the "2" becomes 2 cells, so the other cells around the "2" are determined to be black. ......

Finally, the stage is completed.

As the stage progresses, additional rules are added to indicate "how many blue cells are in a row" and "whether the blue cells are placed consecutively or in separate rows," etc., increasing the difficulty level. This is sure to make your brain sweat!

Incidentally, while in ordinary minesweepers, there are times when a phase of the game is left to luck, in this title, everything can be solved logically from the beginning to the end. This point seems to have been well received by puzzle-loving gamers.

This game is actually a sequel to "Hexcells. What has changed in this sequel is that it has an automatic problem generation function.

The basic system of this work is to solve the pre-prepared stages one after another, but by using the auto-generating function, as the word "Infinite" in the title of this work indicates, you can solve a virtually infinite number of problems. Infinite...... sounds fascinating yet terrifying.

Using the auto-generator, you can create problems like this one, for example.

How does it look? I'm going to finish my game time today just by solving this! It's a very heavy feeling, isn't it? The automatic generation function is just like a swamp.

If you like the pleasure of solving problems, why don't you try "Hexcells Infinite" and step into the hexagonal swamp?

SiNKR /Sizzle "

• SiNKR /Sizemel" by Robert Wahler
• Released on October 13, 2017
• Price: 310 yen (as of March 24, 2020)
• (C) 2017 Wahler Digital LLC

Have you ever heard the term "minimalist"? This term refers to people who live with the minimum amount of things, and their lean and clear lifestyle has attracted public attention along with the word "decluttering.

The game "SiNKR" is a minimalist puzzle game.

As the name "minimalist puzzle" suggests, this game is thoroughly devoid of superfluous elements.

There are no unnecessary words or explanations on the title screen. There is no explanation of the rules in the game, nor is there a tutorial. There are only stages drawn with simple lines and figures. The simplicity of the game is even beautiful.

Since there are no explanations or tutorials, you have to figure out what to do by yourself. I clicked on the hexagonal object that was shaking and shaking, and found that it started to spin around while I kept pressing it, and that the hooks moved smoothly toward the hexagon as it moved. Using this trick, the white disks are hooked onto the hooks and taken to the round hole, and if they all sink into the hole, the stage is cleared. This is the basic rule of the game.

At first, the stages are simple, but as you advance, new gimmicks are added, such as the ability to flip the hooks and the addition of square types of disks. Of course, there are no explanations, so you will have to figure out how the new gimmicks work on your own each time. I felt that the sense of exploration and the discoveries that accompany it are part of the puzzle-like charm of this work.

The unique visuals of the game are reminiscent of electrical schematics, and the logical and stoic nature of the game, in which the player is constantly trying to figure out the order in which to manipulate the gimmicks, is what attracts the attention of most people. The game is set up so that each time you click on a gimmick, a pleasant piano sound resonates, and as you play the game, the gentle, mysterious tone echoes through the space-like background. One way to play this game is not only to rack your brains, but also to relax and enjoy listening to the sounds.

LineWay "

• LineWay" (Pony)
• Released on June 21, 2017
• Price: ¥100 (as of March 24, 2020)
• (C) 2017 Pony

One stroke (hitofude) writing. The idea is to draw a single figure without breaking the line and without tracing the same spot twice. It is often applied to puzzle games, and two of the best games based on the one-stroke stroke are "Commuting Hitofude" for Game Boy Advance and "Intuitive Hitofude" for Nintendo DS that first come to mind for me. Now is the time to hope for a Switch version to be released! Deliver! My voice, to Nintendo!

So, this title "LineWay" is a puzzle game based on a single stroke.

When you start up the game, after the "earphones recommended" screen appears, what appears to be the game screen is suddenly displayed.

There is no title screen and no particular instructions, but it appears that the game has already started.

While the beautiful ambient background music, which is recommended for earphones, is playing, you place the cursor on the glowing panel and click. Then, pull it to the right, and a line is drawn, and ...... is cleared!

I see. That's what it's all about.

If you start from the glowing panel and draw a line through all the panels, you will clear the game. This is the only and absolute rule of this game. I was able to proceed smoothly for a while without getting stuck on any of the low difficulty problems, but then a new panel appeared in front of me.

It is a panel with a key and a keyhole. As usual, no explanation is given, but as you can imagine, the keyhole panel cannot be passed through unless the key is taken. This adds an accent to the game by restricting the order in which the panels can be passed through.

One of the main features of this title is that various gimmicks appear as the game progresses through the stages. In addition to the key and keyhole gimmicks, there are also panels with arrows indicating the direction of passage, rectangular panels the size of several panels, and other gimmicks that add new restrictions to the stroke-by-stroke game and make the player's head spin.

However, there is no time limit, no score, and no penalty for repeated failure, so the proper way to enjoy this game is to solve it slowly and without rushing.

The healing background music and sound effects, such as the sound of water droplets when drawing lines, are also very pleasant. Please put on your earphones and enjoy it leisurely in your spare time.

Blastboard

• Blastboard" (Enigmatic Network)
• Released on February 28, 2020
• Price: 100 yen (as of March 24, 2020)
• Copyright: (C) 2020 Enigmatic Network

This title is an unlikely billiard-style puzzle game.

The overall design has a simple yet stylish atmosphere, and the light, jazzy background music adds to the mood. The three puzzle games introduced above all have good background music, and it may be said that the quality of background music is now an essential point for a good puzzle game. Come to think of it, the background music of "Tetris" and "Dr. Mario" are also very memorable. ......

The objective of this game is to shoot white "hand balls" placed on a billiard table-like board and hit colorful "target balls" on the table to make them all disappear. The target balls can be erased by hitting balls of the same color against each other or by dropping them into the pockets (holes) at the top and bottom of the table. The same colors can be erased by hitting them together, similar to the shooter puzzle masterpiece "Puzzle Bobble" and often seen in today's puzzle games, but the ability to erase balls by dropping them into pockets is unique to this billiard-themed game.

The handball is not only launched, but the strength of the shot can be adjusted according to the distance the mouse is pulled. The angle of the handball's reflection is guided by a thin line, so there is no need to be as exact in determining the angle as in real billiards, and the game can be played with a certain degree of casual feel.

However, even if the game is casual, it is said that this title "derives the formula for deceleration by analyzing the movement of an actual billiard ball," and in fact, the rolling behavior of the ball is quite realistic. Also, just as in billiards, if the ball falls into the pocket, it will result in a foul, so players can always play with a good sense of urgency.

Speaking of realism, the sound of the balls hitting each other is also quite realistic. Personally, I believe that one of the things that makes billiards so exhilarating is the sound of the balls colliding with each other, and in this game as well, the sound makes a big difference in how you feel when playing.

Now, some of you may have noticed from the screen shots that there is a mascot in this game. That is the character shown in the lower left corner of the screen, Kory of the Buster Dragon Tribe. He is the owner of the bar where the game is set, and he constantly animates throughout the game, wiping his glass, nodding his head, etc. Some Steam users have even purchased the game for this character. Character is important!

Incidentally, the game has a multiplayer mode that allows you to play online against your Steam friends. The price is also fairly inexpensive at 100 yen, so if you're interested, you can use Steam's gift function to give it as a gift to a friend. No, in fact, competitive puzzles are the most fun. ......It reminds me of my elementary school days when I played "Puyo Puyo Dori" with my friends day after day. ......Oh, the happiness I'll never get back! Those were the happiest days of my life. ......

Puzzle games are "a deep swamp that anyone can enter

So, I have introduced four puzzle games that I recommend.

Puzzle games are a genre that requires less complicated operations and commands, and the rules are simple and easy to learn, so the hurdle to playing them is low. However, since it is very easy to get into a state of brain juice drowning and once hooked, the likelihood of not being able to get out is quite high, so people who like them really only play puzzle games endlessly.

Please take care not to lose too much sleep for the sake of your physical condition, and try to immerse yourself in the deep and enjoyable swamp of puzzle games up to your shoulders (or even up to the tips of your head if you are not very good at it).

Author
Nero Hyakkabe
A freelance writer who buys too many games. Currently, I have more than 300 games in my stack. Also a novelist. Author of "Goaken Unrated Edition" (Kodansha) and "My Mother's Lie" (in "Malicious Kwaidan") (Takeshobo).
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