Next Fest 24|3 Day 2
Micro-reviews for Day 2 of Autumn Next Fest 2024, exploring MainFrames, CrossAbout, SuperPosition, DragonMirroreD, Shattered Dimension, Millumi, Reel and Riddles, and Geometry Jump
This post was originally on Discord, and as such does not contain additional information 2025+ posts have
Today was mostly puzzle games, and though quality and polish varied, there was some interesting bits and pieces, and even a pair of dragons.
Highlights: MainFrames and CrossAbout
CrossAbout: Crosswords In Reverse
This game is exactly what it says it is. You're solving crosswords, but instead of trying to figure out which of the possible words is the answer to the clue, you find all* possible answers, and try and arrange them so that they make a crossword puzzle. It's very well done, though I worry it might be leaning a bit too much on 'bruteforcing a solution' as a tactic. Still, it provides incentives to both make the crosswords as compact or as large as possible, so there is a lot of replayability, not to mention daily puzzles. My only issue is that this take on the crosswords reveals their ugly side: the fact that some answers can make sense, but not count as valid. For example a clue "PC Keys" accepted Ctrl & Alt, but not Shift or Space (though I guess that last one's a 'bar' not a 'key'). Still, if you're into crossroads this is a very fresh take on them that's worth trying
Playtime: ??h
Shattered Dimension
The demo is extremely short (and started with a very unfortunate and deafening audio bug) however it does showcase a very good interconnected puzzle, where you will go back to previous screens to cross-reference for clues you may have not noticed were there. There isn't a lot going on, and it is essentially a point'n'click puzzle, so it's a bit hard to say how good it'll end up being, but potential is there
Playtime: ??h
Reel and Riddles
This game provides a novel idea of attaching different puzzle rules to different fish, meaning you're solving slightly different puzzles each time you catch a new one. However - aside of some bugs - this feels like too much form over substance. The fishing makes getting to each puzzle unnecessarily tedious (not to mention the randomness of it) and reward for catching multiple fish of the same type is largely meaningless, at least within the demo.
Playtime: ??h
Geometry Jump: Impossible Game
Waste of time. Sometimes I take shots in the dark, and thought this one might be a little bit like Vectronom. But no, it's essentially a low-quality mobile game (that runs surprisingly poorly for how little it has happening) where you press spacebar to jump to the next lane. Jumping closer to the center of the platforms means more score so there is some score chasing potential, but there is hardly anything here to bother with
Playtime: ??h
TITLE
I am a big sucker for laser deflecting games, but this one didn't really suck me in. It's not that it's bad or anything, it just doesn't quite sit right with me. It's a lot of little things, like the disconnected character dialogue, lack of an undo button, abstract requirement of "hit all mirrors" instead of a set goal, and even the color palette felt unsatisfying to me. It's extremely subjective dislike, I think the game could very well be a fine little chill puzzler, so if you like lasers and mirrors, might be worth a go
Playtime: ??h
MainFrames
This platforming puzzle game oozes style in the best way possible. It's charming, and has you play on a pretend desktop screen where you can use various windows to platform around. You can move them, change between different tabs, and interact with them in other ways, and I'm sure the full game will only expand on the idea with more mechanics and a quirky story. The demo was short, but definitely worth giving a play!
Playtime: ??h
SuperPosition
A simple block-pushing puzzle with a not-so-simple twist: certain interactions are quantum in nature, and will cause the entire level to enter a superposition - multiplying to satisfy all possible outcomes. Did you roll into a quantum wall? Well now there is a version of you that got blocked by the wall, and a version of you that went through. Good luck synching two of them enough to exit simultaneously, or collapse the superposition. These puzzles tackle a very difficult concept to grasp, and I can see them getting really challenging real fast. The demo has some minor issues here and there, but I'm sure they'll be ironed out and are mostly not a problem by the time of release.
Playtime: ??h
DragonMirroreD with Hyoga & Magma
And to finish the day a game about a pair of dragons navigating through a mysterious mansion. The puzzles revolve around the movements of the two dragons being horizontally flipped, so you have to carefully move and position them so that they don't fall off the platforms. The cake the game offers is simple and has an RPG maker texture, however it works remarkably well and I enjoyed the silly little dialogues that pop up when you interact with random items around the house. The game is translated from Japanese so the English can be hit or miss at times, but I still enjoyed it. And it has dragons, so that's a +1 in my book.