Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Pushmo: A deceptively-complex puzzler


Very rarely will I purchase digital content for my portable gaming devices (not including my iPhone).  There's always the price to consider, the content delivered, and whether I will dedicate the time to play it enough.  Then again, there's always the outcry of players enjoying the game everywhere that will get my attention as well.  Such is the case for Pushmo on the Nintendo 3DS.

A good puzzle game always has a simple mechanic but complex level design, and Pushmo does just that. Taking a retro 8-bit image and being able to pull out its sections accordian-style to create platforms is a novel idea, but to progress to the top while employing the mechanic is another matter altogether.  Plus, given that the length you can pull out a piece is limited to 3 square lengths max, you'll be doing a lot of pulling and pushing to get to your goal.

In addition, players can use the editor tool to create their own custom levels.  I think this was what clinched the purchase for me.  I'm an absolute sucker for user-generated content, and I love how they use the QR codes to distribute the levels.  So now I'm on a mad dash to plow through the main game and unlock all the tools I require to make some truly awesome levels.

Pushmo is available exclusively for Nintendo 3DS eShop for $6.99.

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