Tag: puzzles

Baba Is You – Thankfully Less Stressful Than Coding:

Posted on by in Gaming

For those who follow my Twitter (@CaitlinRC), you’ll know that I am in my final year of university and am studying Computer Science. So programming, logic and technology are a major part of my life – academically and recreationally. Despite all the programming languages that my studies have taught me, at its core – logic statements are what will make or break a program. You can have the most sophisticated interface on the planet but that does nothing if the assumptions you’ve based it all on are incorrect.

When I spotted Baba Is You on the Nintendo Switch Shop, I was intrigued. Normally, gaming doesn’t always have the most accurate grasp on the pillars of computing as an industry – focusing more on the science fiction fantasies. These are great and all, some of which forming stellar gameplay ideas and storylines but to really understand programming, you need to understand logical thinking. My university got us to do a series of logic puzzles and problems, like those you’d find in a Professor Layton game, as tutorial work for our first module. So, a game based around logical statements, gradually growing more complex and adding new variables as you progress? Right up my alley.

Can confirm this is what my speech devolves into after too long programming.

Before I get into the meat of Baba Is You, I want to talk a bit about logical thinking and its influence on our lives. Growing up, I was always told that people tend to either be logical or creative, and that the two rarely crossed over. Those who were more creative, would go on to study drama, art and humanities whilst the logical kids would be the scientists of the future. Nowadays, we all know that’s a bunch of horse shit but as a kid it really stuck with me. I was clearly logical, excelling more at maths and science than at drawing a picture of a bunch of bananas or taking on the role of Reno in a production of Anything Goes. Art, writing and drama seemed out of reach for me.

However, logic and creativity are so strongly interlinked that one cannot feasibly exist without the other. Some of the greatest accomplishments in human history have come from the combination of logical thinking and creative ideas – such as Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine sketches, drawn over four hundred years before the Wright brothers had their first successful flight. Any problem can be broke down and overcome with a little imagination and logic. It’s an incredible feat of humanity, that has persisted across our evolution.

2nd best duo in AC, just behind Evie and Jacob (fight me world i love them)

For me, logic rules my thinking most of the time. I am an incredibly logical person, to the point where there’s a running joke that I’m secretly an android infiltrating humanity. I can neither confirm nor deny it! When it comes to emotions, relationships and social interaction, I struggle to apply this logic to other people. I’ll examine body language, tone of voice and any other cues I can find, in order to draw a conclusion from a situation. This does lead to some apparently “insightful” and “wise” observations on my part (according to my friends anyways), but it also leads to a lot of stress on my mental state.

For logic to be successful, you need all the details. You must understand every facet of the situation in order to build your set of rules. Much like an android, I strive to analyse and understand everything and everyone around me, like a ridiculously elaborate game of spot the difference. Building the rulesets is hard. You’re terrified of being wrong but the anxiety that comes from not having those rules in place to help navigate the situation can be even worse. It’s part of the reason I love programming so much. It’s the joy of finding a solution that works, solving a complex problem and knowing that the rules are set in stone for you to follow.

YOU. SHALL NOT. PASS

Baba Is You is a cute little puzzle game, that applies logical thinking and the basics of programming to create a unique world with challenges that you genuinely wish to solve. It uses “blocks” of writing to establish three different parameters that you must play with – Actions, Objects/States and Connectives. Your aim is to win each level, by touching whatever object has been defined as “win”. Each connected series of “Object -> Connective -> Action” establishes a rule that must be adhered to as long as the rule is active. However, you can change the rules! Switching out one object for another, “deactivating” the rule as a whole or finding a sneaky loophole that allows you to skip over a seemingly unbeatable section of the level, is what Baba Is You is about.

With over 200 levels, a ridiculous amount of adorable characters and creative solutions, I think it’s a game that I will come back to a lot. If you like logic puzzles and cute little characters, I’d highly recommend trying it out.

Slightly concerned that the ocean seems to end in a light blue abyss.

2019 has been a great year for Mind Games. We launched in April and have been growing from week to week, with each amazing supporter of the site being a huge inspiration for me to keep working as hard as I can. In 2020, I am planning on upgrading the site a bit, so it looks a bit more professional and you can read some of my older posts without having to scroll through nearly a years-worth of content!

Thank you all once more and I hope you had a good festive period! Keep an eye out on the site’s Twitter for announcements, updates and ideas for new content – @OurMindGames.

Till next year,

CaitlinRC.

Röki and Eldest Souls – United Label Are One To Watch:

Posted on by in Gaming

Whilst I was at EGX, I got the chance to chat to the folks at United Label and try out their two games – Röki and Eldest Souls. First, I want to say a massive thank you to all the team I chatted to, who were a delight! They were all clearly passionate about their creations and the origins behind them, which only made me more excited to try out their games. It’s clear that a massive amount of care and detail has been put into their works and I highly recommend you go check them out, they’re deserving of all the love and attention you can give them. However, Röki and Eldest Souls are two very different games. Much like oil and water, they’re two creations that you wouldn’t expect to find under the same umbrella. So, lets talk about them and why they caught my eye.

Look at Tove’s cute little hat and backpack! LOOK AT IT!

First up, let’s talk about Röki. Made by Tom and Alex from Polygon Treehouse, it is their first venture into the indie gaming community, and it looks incredible. At its core, it is a game about kindness and courage. Based on Scandinavian folklore, you follow Tove, a young girl on a journey to save her family and confront her past. The world is full of monsters, but they are not inherently evil. They are merely creatures, like you and I. Pain, sadness, fear, happiness and humour – they experience these emotions as we do. Taking a step away from the traditional “must stab monsters” view that a lot of games based on exploring a world tend to follow. To move forward in the game, you help them solve their problems and in turn they’ll help you solve yours.

Inspired by the Monkey Island series and games like Day of The Tentacle, Röki has a strong narrative that is supported by various complex puzzles that encourage you to explore the expansive world. Straight off the bat, you will be astounded by the sheer beauty of the game. The art style makes a strong use of colour and silhouette to create a living, breathing world that you feel a genuine part of. This is added to by the excellent sound design. Wind whistles through the trees, you hear leaves rustle and the crunch of the fallen snow beneath Tove’s feet. You hear birds calling and squirrels chittering, the monsters grunt and mutter to themselves as you run past. When you stop to think about it, each piece of the world is just as important and alive as the main character is.

Can confirm, I spent several minutes running around in the snow like the child at heart I am.

Röki comes across at first glance, as a cute little indie romp through a forest. However, the moment you boot it up and immerse yourself in the world, its clearly so much more than that. You are merely a piece on the chessboard, moving your way across to the other side and tackling whatever problems cross your path. The story of Tove, of her journey to find her family and face the demons of her past, is one of many tales being told in this fairy tale forest. The kindly troll by the bridge, the oracles in the trees and the abandoned woodsman’s house, they all have their own story to tell. Why is the hut abandoned? What were those buried in the graves like when they were alive? How did the troll come to be injured anyways?

The puzzles are not inherently hard. They require you to think outside the box a bit more than most games in this style. However, the game provides you with hints if you ever get stuck in the form of the oracles. Inside a few key locations, are the wise oracles whom you can consult for assistance in your journey. Although cryptic, they will provide you with hints and suggestions as to what you need to achieve in order to move forward – e.g. who you need to help or which area you need to explore further to find that key item. Röki will be one of those games that are inherently calming and peaceful, especially to those of us who suffer from anxiety. Standing by the sea or in a forest, I feel at peace. The world keeps turning, the environment around me lives on whilst I stand still, unmoving. It makes sense, when a lot of the world doesn’t seem to.

LOOK HOW GORGEOUS THIS GAME IS! SERIOUSLY!!

In contrast, Eldest Souls falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. Taking a leaf from the Souls series, it follows the lone warrior as he attempts to slay the imprisoned Old Gods before the remnants of humanity are completely wiped out from the world. A combination of exploration and boss fights, Eldest Souls sees you explore a crumbling ruin known as The Citadel, encountering NPC’s, mysteries and the Old God’s themselves. These encounters are not for the fainthearted and the chances of you making it out alive are very slim. An RPG at its core, it allows you to decide how you wish to approach its challenges and how much of the hidden lore of the desolated world you wish to uncover.

Made by Fallen Flag Studios, a group of developers that started out as students, Eldest Souls puts a unique spin on the “souls” combat style. Each boss you come across is a completely unique fight, requiring you to rethink how you approach each combat encounter. Once you defeat a boss, you gain their unique “ability”. Say for example, a boss used a spin attack against you. Once beaten, you could gain that skill and apply it to unlock new areas of the Citadel, tackle previously impossible bosses or just make life a bit easier for you. Apart from the initial tutorial boss, you have control over the order in which you tackle each boss. Struggling on one in particular? Then go try another one and come back later. Obviously, there will be a few bosses that need to be beaten in order to progress the story further but the flexibility of it is brilliant.

I have to admit this is a very cool logo.

Eldest Soul’s art style is in the form of pixel art, which gives a slightly lighter note to the bleak nature of the world. An incredible amount of detail has gone into each sprite, including the telegraphing of their attacks and how they respond to you. The world around you, although decimated, feels like it is slowly beginning to live again. The artists have added tiny details that when you notice them, make all the difference. For example, during the small section that I tried out, it opened on a boat. The boat rocked from side to side as the waves flowed against it, the rain falling as if a great storm was approaching. It felt like an average day in Cardiff, I’m not going to lie. From particle effects in their teleportation system which lets you choose to exit a boss fight and come back later with ease, to the crumbling of obstacles as you smash through them, it’s a breath-taking game to experience.

When in doubt, stab it and run away at full pelt.

One key bit that I really want to highlight is the music. I had the chance to chat with the composer of the game’s soundtrack and honestly, even if this kind of game isn’t your thing, just get the soundtrack. It’s hauntingly beautiful, matching the tone of the areas you venture through. As you step into a boss arena, the music builds in tension, exploding into a heart racing anthem to your struggle against the Old Gods and their dark creations. Although I never actually beat the boss (because I’m terrible at Souls games), I can say with confidence that the music helped me get into the mindset to defeat it. It gives off a “David vs Goliath” feel that I think is missing from a lot of games, where you are up against an insurmountable foe, but you believe that you can defeat it.

The Citadel is an intruiging place to explore, where you aren’t sure what is around the corner but are excited to find out.

I think that both Röki and Eldest Souls are games to keep an eye on. Sure, there are more major releases over the next year that everyone is keen on, such as Cyberpunk or the Avengers game, but I have always thought that the indie gaming scene is where the true stars shine and United Label has not let me down on that front. I can’t wait to see their finished products and to follow what they do in future and I hope you’ll give them a shot too.

If you enjoyed this article, give it a like and comment below any games or topics you’d like me to cover in future! I’ve got a lot of post-EGX content for you all, with Monday’s piece being all about the amazing charity – Special Effect. Till next time,

CaitlinRC.

Escape Rooms – I’ve Never Wanted to Get Outside More:

Posted on by in Real Life

Much like video games, the real world goes through phases and fads like a student goes through pasta. A lot of these tend to only last for a month or so, before something new comes along and grabs our interest. In a way, we’re a lot like magpies when you think about it. Our attention flits from one shiny activity to another, such as indoor skydiving, laser tag or roller rinks. Obviously, these still exist nowadays but they’re a bit harder to find. One fad that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon and that I personally adore, is escape rooms.

For those who have never done an escape room, their premise is simple. You and a few friends get locked in a room/series of rooms for a specific length of time (normally around an hour), and in order to escape, you must solve puzzles. Now the puzzles vary massively depending on the room’s designer, with some rooms being themed around cryptography or spatial awareness tasks, but they tend to be sequential. The solution to one puzzle opens a cupboard that contains a clue to the next and so on.

Ciphers are a big part of some escape rooms but not all!

It’s a remarkably satisfying process that gives you a real sense of achievement and is actually a very good team bonding experience. I did an escape room with my current housemates to check whether we could handle living with one another, after all, if you can get locked in a room together (and a cage in our case, with me handcuffed to a chair!) then chances are you can handle living in close proximity of one another. Escape rooms can get a tad frustrating depending on who you are completing them with, as dominant personalities can collide but if you all keep calm, it’s a great way to see people shine in ways that you didn’t expect.

Let me give you an example. I’ve done quite a few escape rooms, since they’re a great non-alcoholic activity to do and I’ve been lucky enough to make friends who are willing to do them with me. Let’s focus on the one with my current housemates (hi guys if you’re reading this). We’re all a bit whacky in my house so an escape room seemed quite up our alley. After opening a new room, we all gravitated towards different clues – with one of my housemates instantly recognising mirror writing as she used to practise writing in it all the time! Or how one of my friends from a placement knew how to brute force a padlock by squeezing it tight and feeling when the tumblers fell into the correct slot.

Some escape rooms are themed and have a story!

In the case of my housemates, I’ll give you some background. There’s five of us in our house – three of which are computer science students, whilst the other two focus on biology and occupational therapy. So, when it comes to problem solving and logical thinking, we have a bit of an edge. Here’s the thing though – you can be the best cryptographer in the world and still struggle in an escape room because it challenges you to think beyond what you know and try things that you might not think of.

For anyone reading this who isn’t a big puzzle solver or a logical thinker, don’t be put off! You don’t need any skills to solve an escape room. Sure, knowing about the common techniques they use can be helpful but everything you need to escape is given to you. Who knows, maybe your unique way of thinking will be what cracks the final clue? If you feel anxious or need to step out for a bit, 99% of rooms provide a instant “exit” button that lets you out when you need it, so those with claustrophobia can still enjoy themselves – these rooms are there for everyone and the creators want you to enjoy them!

Some can be quite spooky, I ended up in a serial killer one once!

You see this theme of escape rooms in gaming as well. There are hundreds of puzzle games out there that challenge you to escape the house or the abandoned theme park as fast as you can. So, it’s no wonder why it has become such a massive thing in the “real world”. Considering a large part of what I do involves puzzle solving and tackling problems from a different angle, it’s not hard to see why they appeal so strongly to me.

After becoming a Dungeon Master and running campaigns for my friends, escape rooms have jumped massively up my list of interests. After dedicating so much of my time to creating unique puzzles for my players to solve, I have a deeper appreciation to the designers of escape rooms, especially when it comes to difficulty levels! Sure, it’s satisfying to complete any of them but the harder rooms, there’s an innate determination to conquer it when other’s have not.

Note: Don’t karate chop the lock to escape, that will hurt.

Anyways, I’ve rambled a bit much this week rather than a fully form article but hey, you guys seem to like it regardless, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on escape rooms! Leave a comment or tweet me at @OurMindGames with your experiences! The schedule for the next fortnight is a tad all over the place due to EGX as I’m in the process of sorting meetings with developers to chat about their games but I’ll aim for The Blackout Club article to come out next Monday as planned.

Thanks,

CaitlinRC.