Managed to reach the end on my own, the hardest one for me was the refflection. The rest was fairly easy. I Hope to see another sequel soon, with harder puzzles ^^
Reviews for "Playing With Letters"
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
Thanks!
It's interesting that reflections was the most challenging to you. It really shows that all people experience the game differently and think in different patterns.
Congrats on beating the game!
Great little game. Only issue is that it's not coded to accept input from the numpad.
Solutions:
i understand
watchmaker (anagram of charm tweak)
devil (lived backwards)
deified (the only palindromic word)
blood
666
behind you ('vos postergum' to get the secret ending)
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
Yeah, I honestly should've looked up how to do that, but I didn't realize until after uploading.
And dude... Spoilers much? Read the description outside of the screen :p
Either way, thanks for playing.
I figured only one answer out on my own. I might be stupid and that's cool because i still enjoyed this
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
I'm glad you still enjoyed this! :)
Don't worry, you're not stupid. I made this game, but I'm pretty sure I'd have some trouble figuring these out myself, had I not made them ;)
This was by far my favorite game out of the few I played tonight! :D I got lost on some levels, though I completed the other ones within ten seconds. I searched for some of the answers, and I was actually disappointed in myself for doing so because I realized I was on the right track; I just needed a little more time. I can see the mental benefits of playing what you call "psychology" games. I realized that on each of the difficult levels, I tended to think outside the box for about the first minute or so, but over the course of a few minutes, my thinking would become more rigid, and then solving the puzzle seemed impossible. I recognize this tendency of mine from my high school math courses: if I was able to solve complex algebraic problems within the first one or two attempts, I would seem like an expert, but if I failed the first couple of attempts, I would seem like a quitter.
The puzzles are well designed. I think the game's difficulty is perfect, and I actually like that the levels are not in order of increasing difficulty. The storyline seems to be generic (I don't know why I'm saying this when I've barely played any games of this genre); however, the narrator is a very interesting character! It's interesting how you were able to put yourself in the position of such as person in order to make the narration so engaging.
Did you make the typeface? You might not want to follow my advice on this because, as I told you, I have poor vision that can't be fixed with glasses, so I'm of a small minority, but the text was extremely difficult to read. The size is fine; the problem is that the individual letters aren't distinct enough. I think there should have been more contrast in the type design.
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
Thank you very much! For playing the game, and for leaving this nice review :D
The difficulty definitely doesn't increase exponentially, which is an interesting touch on my part. I'm not even sure myself exactly why I did it, but I do remember me wanting the first puzzle to be first, and the last puzzle to be last. So when one of the more difficult puzzles was already at the start, perhaps I decided to focus on an interesting game, instead of a perfectly balanced one :)
Don't worry abut looking up answers; a lot of people have done that. Who knows, maybe I would've myself too? If one is unlucky, sometimes a certain puzzle simply doesn't click, whereas the following two might do so immediately. This game also requires quite a bit of patience, I'm sure, along with some free time.
I've come to the conclusion that the difficulty is apt too, and I'm glad you feel the same :)
Since there are about an even amount saying the game's too easy, and too hard, and those who think it's good, chances are it's fairly balanced in that respect, for what kind of a game it is.
I too would place these in the more abstract and difficult to define, "psychological game" sub-genre. Quite obviously, since I've been inspired by games of that same nature. I'm especially happy that you liked this one a bit more than the other games you played last night!
The story itself is quite simple indeed, and has a continuation in the sequel which I released last year. As you analyzed, I placed the focus on the narrator, villain, or what have you. I guess specifically, on making the dialogue interesting, while still being relevant for the "puzzles", if you will. As we've talked about, I enjoy when games have a good atmosphere, which I tried to accomplish in this game. Partly, through the music I composed for this game, before even making it!
I actually took some steps to be able to go into character (some of which included listening to certain types of music, and performing thought experiments). That probably wasn't necessary, but if the result is good I'm not going to complain :D
Sorry about the font. Your criticism is very vaild, not only because of your vision, since other people have complained as well. I think the style was the right to go with, as that got a fair deal of praise. But the actual execution could've been pulled off better. A lot of people try pressing "2" instead of "Z" in the beginning, for instance.
Thanks again for your well thought out and written review! I appreciate it very much :)
Perhaps someday when you feel like it, you'll try out the sequel ^ ^
Dark and gloomy theme for a text puzzle game. Very haunting and well thought out.
Well done.
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
Thank you for reviewing both games, and for playing! Have a good one ;)