Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match

Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match

Titles based on some old physical game are almost always a good choice, as long as the developer does not stumble along the way! Fortunately, Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match is no exception. The implementation of this version is impeccable, and the fun from the original game is undoubtedly present here.

Real player with 13.5 hrs in game


Read More: Best Board Game Hex Grid Games.


Solving all puzzle levels is easy. But finishing them within the sugested number of moves is not so easy.

Solving 5 levels in less moves then sugested, is a real challenge.

Recommended game for puzzle lovers and achievements hunters.

Real player with 5.3 hrs in game

Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match on Steam

Unlock The King 2

Unlock The King 2

2D is replaced by 3D puzzles. It is more complicated now, harder to manage and understand all the possible move options and possibilities.

At least Undo option is added - that I missed during the Part 1. But this option is buggy sometimes, made the piece invisible.

Level 14 - this was not explained before that you can rotate the view with your right mouse button. Discovered that the second before I was giving up and planned to look for solution. And the rotating stops working sometimes, you need to close the game to make it work again.

Real player with 4.8 hrs in game


Read More: Best Board Game Sokoban Games.


upd: What you can read below is my original review of the first version of this game. I was pretty upset with my first impression which didn’t live up to my expectations, as you can see it. After I posted this review, the developers were fast to respond, and they fixed things I noted here, and I really, really appreciate it. I played this game to the completion and I must say that now it is a good example of a minimalistic puzzle. So feel free to try it and support the developers. Also, I want to thank Raphael, one of the devs, for the answer you can also read below. It means a lot for me, too.

Real player with 3.9 hrs in game

Unlock The King 2 on Steam

Hanoi Puzzles: Flip Match

Hanoi Puzzles: Flip Match

A simple change in the game mechanic gives the puzzles a new way to solve. I am just as happy with this game as the previous version.

Some puzzles are straight forward early on to learn some basic concepts of moving and solving. Then later the solutions are not as obvious and you get to plan out your moves. But if you dont want to solve for the minimum moves, you can just move as much as you want. Being able to move to the next level with the “correct” solution, is huge for me.

The music is still calm and fits the style. Some of the music is a little bit… stronger or more aggressive compared to the previous game, but still calm and in the background.

Real player with 8.4 hrs in game


Read More: Best Board Game Hex Grid Games.


Very challenging puzzles and the soundtrack is really good,

Recommended!

Real player with 3.7 hrs in game

Hanoi Puzzles: Flip Match on Steam

Battle Chess 4000

Battle Chess 4000

Battle Chess 4000 takes the classic game of chess and rushes it headlong into the future. Chess pieces become animated space-age characters, created from state-of-the-art digitized clay models; with the pieces animated moves being both intriguing and hilarious. Not only that but Battle Chess 4000 has a library of over 300,000 opening moves and an artificial intelligence that can handle any level of opponent.

Battle Chess 4000 features include:

  • State-of-the-art animation from digitized clay models
Battle Chess 4000 on Steam

XANDO: Xtreme & Over the Top

XANDO: Xtreme & Over the Top

tic tac toe but with abilities! wow

so i’m already actually a fairly big fan of ultimate tic-tac-toe - i find it pretty fun and much less solvable than normal. additionally, i’m a huge sucker for people slamming mechanics onto simple games. so this is pretty much my jam! it’s fun and neat and cool and $2

Real player with 0.7 hrs in game

No story(camping) , AI don’t play.

Still w8ing for results.

Real player with 0.2 hrs in game

XANDO: Xtreme & Over the Top on Steam

Gaia Project

Gaia Project

I had zero Gaia Project experience before booting this up. I think there’s a marginal learning curve to the UI, but after you run through the tutorial and get a game or so in, it’s totally reasonable.

The AI is also fantastic, really an exceptionally well done AI for a game of this complexity. I have about 15 games under my belt, all on 3-player 8-sector, and Hard AI continues to offer a real challenge (winning scores tend to be in the 160-170 range, whether it’s me or the AI pulling it off). The paths taken to victory also seem quite varied, so it’s not like it’s just programmed to spam Econ4 or something dumb; there’s real complexity going on under the hood. It’s not like every decision is perfect, but I seriously think it’d be difficult to find a better done digital board game AI for a game of this sheer scale.

Real player with 88.7 hrs in game

Honestly I’ve played countless games of Gaia Project IRL, it’s absolutely my favorite TTG, and this digital adaptation is perfectly fine. Yes, there are grammatical errors, but how many of us actually read the EULA to begin with? Oh noes, they forgot the C in Bescods in the achievements! Time to review bomb the game, amirite?

And sure, the UI is “clunky” compared to in-person, but let’s be real here - Gaia Project is probably one of the most complex games most people will ever learn. If you’re taking the time to learn it, you probably have enough smarts in you to get through some menu screens. Upgrade your cognitive navigation track past 1 before you throw your hands up in defeat.

Real player with 49.5 hrs in game

Gaia Project on Steam

Hextones

Hextones

Mentally stimulating yet relaxing game. It’s good! I was looking for a replacement for Ishido which I can no longer find for PC. Hextones retains the stone placing challenge that I love in Ishido but expands it. Each stone in Hextones has six instead of four sides. Learning new strategies after years of playing Ishido with only four sided stones is surprisingly fun. Hextones also has incremental challenges where you must get 6 sided, 5 sided, 4 sided, 3 sided and 2 sided correct placements to pass to the next tier. This is more difficult than just accumulating points. The music is hypnotically good. Well worth the price.

Real player with 146.5 hrs in game

Futuristic Puzzle for a Good Price! This is similar to previous square grid “tile placing” games we’ve played, but this time it’s hexagons, and the scoring is a little different.

The music and visuals seem relaxing, just don’t get worried as you’re running out of space to place tiles!

(It would be cool to have more various play modes, including one that lets you remove some tokens from the board so you can play longer! Also, it’s nice to have multiple backgrounds and tile sets available, if possible.)

Real player with 11.6 hrs in game

Hextones on Steam

Unlock The King

Unlock The King

Shuffle chess pieces to clear a path for its titular centerpiece in Unlock the King. While its 100 stages aren’t of consistent quality, the sheer quantity offered for its minimum price point make it an easy shoe-in for brain teaser fans.

Similar to its developer’s other works, UTK is about making way for its central figure. Apart from pawns, every piece makes an appearance here, differing primarily in quantity and stage geometry to keep you invested. It’s a simple formula that’s guaranteed to work, though it is admittedly repetitive. Bread-and-butter chess boards make way for switches in its late half, transforming the playing field and opening up new possibilities.

Real player with 6.5 hrs in game

Imagine it’s Black Friday, and you’ve made the misguided decision to take advantage of some deal you are convinced is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (if only because you went and got trampled). When the clock strikes midnight and myriads of strangers produce an assortment of cutting utensils—some legal and some not so legal—you realize you goofed, and it’s time to abort. You shove strangers, dodge descending blades, leap over toppled grandmas, and shimmy through paths so narrow they would make a spelunker fill their adult diaper. You now understand the gameplay concept of Unlock the King.

Real player with 5.7 hrs in game

Unlock The King on Steam

Empires of the Void II

Empires of the Void II

Conquer the galaxy - or befriend it! Empires of the Void II is a beloved board game with deep strategy and a compelling story that you write yourself. This is a digital recreation of that board game, allowing you to play with friends (or strangers) in the same room, or across the world. Choose a race and befriend the native species, or crush them under your merciless heel. The power card deck contains dozens of missions that connect to the deep story underpinning the galactic fringe. Save innocent lives from a gigantic rampaging beast, kidnap the leader of your enemies, or gamble with space pirates. Every playthrough feels unique and interesting. Minimalistic graphics and atmospheric music set the tone without getting in the way. Create your own adventure at the fringe of the galaxy!

Empires of the Void II on Steam

Under Domain - Alien Invasion Simulator

Under Domain - Alien Invasion Simulator

This game feels like the creator made a unique and interesting system to play this game but then refuses to teach anyone how to use it. The tutorial even states it’s a LIMITED tutorial and you will learn the more advanced parts of the game with play… except the game play is totally static with no learning curve, so the advanced functions and parts of the game are impossible to reach. At first I figured I was playing the game wrong or just not getting something, but after going to find some kind of guide online (there are none at the time of writing this), or looking at the game’s web page for more information (the game’s page is only a landing page with screen shots, logos, and PR/Sales Hype), and then finally the game reviews/comments that all have the same problem with the game play and then some… I am now pretty sure this game isn’t finished and there are commands and graphics missing to advance the game play. Glad I got this on sale for like $2 since even $6 for this game is over priced as the game currently stands.

Real player with 9.4 hrs in game

The game is really good-looking, definitely an interesting idea. The art, graphics, sound - top notch! And there are a lot of possibilities for further update, which, judging from Antarctica screenshot from “About this game”-section, might be coming (

! I didn’t see a way to build Earth, Moon or ocean bases ).

Basically you play as an alien race that, for a good reason (from their perspective), wants to invade the Earth. And with maximum of 12 decades (from year 1900) and 10 turns per decade you can invade the Earth by 2020 (yep)!

Real player with 6.3 hrs in game

Under Domain - Alien Invasion Simulator on Steam