There’s no question that when it comes to games, simplicity doesn’t have to equate to a lack of fun. Good ideas that are well-implemented, and have some special sauce to them that helps them stick out, can actually be great fun. Whether the trick is amping up the action, throwing players an unexpected curveball periodically, or even just having a compelling story that makes you want to keep seeing what happens next, developers have a number of tricks they can use to help grab and then keep players’ attention, even with simpler games. Then there are titles that simply feel like they have a singular idea and will just ride that out as far as it will go, never really differentiating themselves or taking play to the next level. For me that’s roughly where Soulshard lands.

At the end of the day this is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer with a side of box pushing… and while it does progressively add some more elements and traps that complicate matters, there’s not a whole lot to it. Your unspoken goal will ultimately be to grab the key in each stage and then be able to get to the exit that it will unlock. How you get there will absolutely vary, and the puzzle or sometimes mildly reflex-oriented challenges you face will differ, but more often than not it all feels like variations on a similar theme.

I suppose that doesn’t have to spell disaster, and perhaps there are still people out there who haven’t played box pushing games into the ground, so maybe some of this will feel fresh. Yes, you’ll have to learn to think in process and layers, needing to stack boxes in some cases to allow yourself to get higher, but it all feels pretty familiar. I suppose thankfully there are only 30 levels included then, so it kind of knows when to quit, but amongst its competitors that also feels a little thin on value, so it’s a bit of a crapshoot. It plays well enough, and mechanically it can be a little finicky but it’s workable, so if you’re looking for a budget puzzler it may suffice if your expectations aren’t terribly high.