A look at Codroids, a puzzle game with a focus on simplicity

Moving things around to their proper position is generally the most basic of puzzle mechanics. Codroids [Official Site] embraces that simplicity and offers an assortment of interesting and challenging puzzles for players to solve. I gave the game a play and have some thoughts to share.


Note: The developer provided a copy for review

The basic premise of Codroids is to solve each level by moving around colored discs into their corresponding slots. That these are supposedly droids and you’re viewing a factory is immaterial, as the game completely forgoes any sort of storytelling or consequential thematic pretext. The only thing that really matters is that these are puzzles and they need solving.

Actual gameplay is fairly simple. Every colored disc in play moves in a synchronized fashion in whichever direction you tell them to. This means that limiting movement at some points in certain directions is vital to get the colored disc you want in the place you want. It’s simple enough to intuitively understand, and the developer wanted difficulty that was independent of complexity, which the game manages to more or less pull off. As the levels get harder, you have to mind more colored discs but you never have to contend with newer mechanics.

The overall result of this philosophy and gameplay is that Codroids is a fairly fun puzzle game. I can’t claim to be any sort of authority on puzzles but there’s a natural progression in difficulty that makes it satisfying to figure out how to solve the increasingly-challenging levels. I was able to work through the easy levels briskly but about halfway through the medium-difficulty levels I was taking considerably more time. Naturally, achieving things like optimal solutions became rarer and rarer as well.

Eventually, my progress was virtually halted as my meager puzzle-solving skills were defeated by the more difficult levels. Still, until the point where I was retrying levels a million times, I was entertained. The solution to each puzzle tends to be different enough to the preceding ones and so it doesn’t feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over again too much. While I haven’t seen all of the content in the game, and therefore can’t call this a complete review, I believe it’s safe to say that there’s a fair amount of content for any puzzle enthusiasts that may be interested. If you’re the type that likes a challenge then the higher difficult stages should definitely be an incentive to play rather than a deterrent.

There’s a few stages you can try out for yourself in a web browser that serve as a demo. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, there’s also an example of a few of the harder stages in the game for you to solve.

You can get Codroids here where you have your choice of paying what you want for the game either directly from the developer or on itch. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.