Gridlocked
Rows, Columns, and Diagonals Too!
This week I took a break from AAA titles to try the debut of a new indie developer and a new mobile phone roguelike. I thought I was in for a lite bite with each but found the hours of the week quickly whittling away.
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
Thanks to its charming aesthetic and an interesting take on movement, Arranger was one of the titles I had earmarked coming out of Summer Game Fest. In it you play as Jemma, a young girl venturing out from her home into the surrounding wilderness. The kicker is that Jemma’s movements are on a grid-based landscape, and as she moves so do objects in the same row or column as her.
I’m still early on, but the game has already given me plenty of “Aha!” moments. The developer, Furniture & Mattress, have managed to strike the perfect balance of easy and difficult. The structure of the game’s puzzles have a real carrot-on-a-stick energy that propels you to play far longer than you planned to - something I’ve personally paid for in early morning grogginess this week.
The team have also clearly had a lot of fun with the visual language of the game. They are able to create a sense of atmosphere and place even from the confines of their sometimes distant top-down perspective. The opening sequence of the game is a refreshing bit of storytelling combined with tutorial. It was also a stroke of genius to make Jemma’s method of movement part of the story. It leads to extra affection towards our character as she faces rejection for something outside of her control.
So far, Arranger has given me exactly what I wanted after I saw that first trailer a few weeks back. If you’re a puzzle fan this is one worth checking out.
Guncho
While Arranger had already been on my radar at the beginning of the week, Guncho completely blindsided me. Someone shared an article on Mastodon referencing this game and after reading “tactical wild west shooter-roguelike” on the website it was an instant download.
I’m playing this on my iPhone and it’s been the perfect lunch break companion. You play as the titular Guncho tasked with shooting your way through a series of randomly-generated levels. All of the action takes place on a hexagonal grid where the name of the game is positioning. You have six shots in your revolver to start with, but every movement causes the gun barrel to rotate - potentially throwing off the angle you had to take down an enemy. You have to work to stay one step ahead. As you progress through the stages you can choose from ammunition types or new abilities that will alter how you engage with the environment and your attackers.
Games like this are catnip for me! This was originally meant to be a 10-minute break type game, but quickly mandated a lengthier 30-minute break. As time passes and I rack up losses I can feel myself thinking through the game’s presented scenarios faster and more strategically. That sense of internal progression is what always gets me hooked on these kinds of games. I just completed my first run last night, but I’ll tell you right now it won’t be my last.