While there are loads of puzzle games in the Switch eShop of all types, with the majority of them being easily herded into some sort of sub-category that they have in common, there are some that stand so far out from the crowd in their central design and level of polish that they practically stand on their own. While a convert from the mobile space, The Room series has always been just that sort of title. Featuring ridiculously ornate and often inter-woven puzzles that are also consistently quite intuitive, they’re simply on another level.

In this fourth entry in the series, the developer has continued to tweak elements of the formula enough to differentiate it from its siblings without lowering its general standard of quality. What stands out here is that there are puzzles that effectively span different rooms, adding a level of intricacy to the mix without necessarily adding many frustrations somehow. You’re thankfully pretty easily able to see how things connect, and while there will be times where you’ll need to move back and forth a little to work things out, this generally proves to be interesting rather than aggravating. There’s a continued push to try to further develop a core story here, but again while in the moment I’ll agree that it adds flavor, I can’t say it really stuck with me either. Still, it’s an effort I do appreciate as it helps give the collective puzzles and solving them a bit more purpose.

In terms of controls, it’s probably best played in handheld mode with the touchscreen, working as it was originally designed, but if you’d prefer to play it docked the use of the right joycon as a pointer does at least work reasonably well. I would have liked to have the option to use the Pro Controller, controlling a cursor with one of the analog sticks, but while the motion controls do need to be recalibrated pretty regularly they are still reliable overall. As always, I also appreciate the game’s well-designed hint system which usually is successful in providing some needed direction without immediately revealing too much either. I’m not sure any hint system can be perfect, but among the many games I’ve played that have needed them, this remains one of the best. While you could certainly pick this up to play on your phone, in this case I do believe the ability to play on a larger screen is well-suited to the ornate details this series is known for, so if you’re a big puzzle fan it’s well worth a look on the Switch or Switch 2.