What I’ve come to count on most with indie titles is to do things that surprise me. Sure, there are plenty of genre-bending titles out there, but in most cases they still adhere in some way to combinations that feel more natural. While we’ve seen the marriage of RPGs and puzzles in the form of the likes of the Puzzle Quest series, Arranger takes a very different approach and the result mostly feels like a pretty light adventure RPG but with most elements of movement turned into puzzles in a variety of ways.

Featuring tile-based puzzles and movement that’s tied to simple navigation, completing simple tasks, and even combat, the developers are absolutely all-in on the concept, and for the most part it works well. The primary bane of your existence will be static characters or objects of some sort that will prevent anything in their line from moving, and that’s often where you’ll need to learn to be creative. Probably the most common technique will involve the convenient fact that when you go over the edge on one side you’ll pop up on the opposite one, something that you’re introduced to pretty quickly and that comes to play an important role in your success.

The thing is, it would be selling the game short not to acknowledge the other areas it excels in. The first is that it has a colorful, detailed, and delightful art style that absolutely helps to make the world feel inviting and fun. That’s almost immediately backed up by a cast of diverse and similarly colorful characters, a great sense of humor, and an adventure that likely would have worked well even if it had been more traditional in its gameplay style, though that would have deprived us of something pretty unique.

This is just the sort of game that puts a smile on your face, partially due to the quality of its construction, but also just because it’s one of those titles that helps make enjoying it feel easy. There’s no question that it will periodically give you pause as you try to work your way out of a specific predicament, but I also don’t think it was set up to be punishing, instead trying to walk the line of being just challenging enough to be fulfilling. Perhaps its generally cheerful nature and style won’t be a hit for everyone, but this really feels like one of those indie “it games” that periodically come along and rightfully turn heads across the board.