Having been at this for more than 8 years, if there’s one type of game I’ve seen a ridiculous amount of it has been puzzlers. Sadly, while there have been a fair amount that I’d consider to be quite playable, the number of them that I’ve truly been excited by has been limited. The first problem is that, in general, there simply isn’t all that much variety in the genre as a whole. Since it appeals to a more casual market, more often than not most developers seem to be content to go with formulas that have already been proven to work, so you get a load of quasi-clones of popular titles or styles. The second is that so many of these games are typically budget-friendly, and honestly that dovetails into the first problem pretty clearly, as keeping the cost down and potential for a return high, innovation tends to be equated with risk. All that said, I’m extremely happy when a game like LOK Digital shows up in my email out of nowhere, and then manages to test my mind with something that feels fresh and fun!

Not quite playing like any puzzle game I’ve played to date, this mixes together letter tiles, which aren’t terribly unfamiliar with very specific rules that definitely are. Over the course of play, you’ll learn that there are specific oddball “words” that, when completed in a straight line, then allow you to remove other tiles from the board, but always with very specific rules. While this starts out pretty simple, it quickly gets more complicated, but what’s incredible here is that the game does an outstanding job of giving you very clear direction at every step, and then having you work a puzzle that clearly illustrates the application of each of those new rules. When things get tough, the one thing you won’t be able to do is point at the developers and accuse them of not sufficiently illustrating everything at play.

A few words in, the degree of complication really starts to set in, as you’ll see opportunities to form any number of the words you can use… so it all comes down to the how of it all. Which specific words, in what specific order, and how, understanding that you can’t complete the board until all tiles are cleared… and you have no outstanding powers to remove more tiles. It’s that last rule that will really end up burning you, as clearing the board with your final word can sometimes be relatively simple, but trying to clear your last word, and then having the proper pieces left to satisfy the tiles being removed afterwards, can be maddening. What stands out here isn’t just that it is a well-constructed puzzle game with plenty of challenges, but that the developers really go to the extra effort to clearly and carefully articulate to you each of the rules that will need to be understood to have any chance of mastering the game. Given that’s sadly a bit of a rarity it’s absolutely worth giving an extra shout out for.