Strata Reviews

Strata could be so frustrating--except it's so careful not to be. I mulled over purchasing Strata for a while. At first I was worried I wasn't smart enough to get too into this game, but it's very forgiving and the sound effects are calming, almost meditative. I have lovely moments of insight, where everything just clicks and the ribbons weave so perfectly, and I have times where I ponder and redo... and occasionally look at the hints. Don't worry about difficulty: it draws you in slowly and gently and gives you all the time you need.

If you enjoy puzzles that give you a sense of accomplishment when you complete...this game is 10/10 the game for you. Very reasonable price, and simplistic yet endearing game play and artwork. As soon as you get the hang of it, you'll zip through the puzzles until...no longer shall you trudge through 3x3 puzzles, but you reach the ever increasing difficulty of 4x4! A whole new style of getting it just right to learn, and many many more to complete, this goes on until 5x5, and ending up with the God-like 6x6! With achievements that are 100% completed from just playing the game and completing all the puzzles, this game will test you over and over, putting your patience and intelligence into question. Get it, play it, win it, love it.

Strata reminds me of puzzle games like Flow and Picross. Like those games, Strata has a simple, grid based ruleset whose depth comes from the many variations of the playing board. The simplicity of the game's interface helps keep the focus on what is important. No wading through unnecessary time-wasting elements searching for the game or fun play. Each little action results in relaxed musical riffs which set a peaceful tone. This, coupled with subtle animations gives proper weight to each click, making the game have a sense of physicality which grounds the player in the interaction. And Strata makes fanatastic use of color. For that reason alone, give it a shot.

Strata is a weaving puzzle game that presents a challenge unique to the game itself. The puzzles may look simple at first, but soon you may realise there could be multiple solutions (or weaves) to a problem. If you're eager enough try out all the possibilities and patterns and invent your own strategy, like what I did, you will get hooked to Strata in no time. The design of the puzzles are not only beautiful, they look visually mesmerising as well. The game is so rich with a wide array of colour palettes, I can't help but to stare at the completed puzzles and be filled with wonder. Strata is a must if you love puzzles with a mix of artistic elements, or even apply some weaving techniques in real life!

The graphics of this game are beautiful and the challenges are appropriate in difficulty and simplicity. I'm an avid fan of logic puzzles and prefer the ones where the rules are clearly explained in a visual manner. Strata does that perfectly and quickly, allowing you to jump right in without excessive amounts of tutorial. With two and a half hours in I've gotten up to the end of Set 2, out of 7. Granted theres been some moments of idling do to me being a stay at home mother and needing to check on my son, but I still feel entertained and eager to continue on with perfecting each score. The price is fair at the 3.99 I purchased the game for. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a casual logic puzzle.

Did you love Lyne? If so, this is the BOMB.COM for you! Strata isn't fast-paced. Or action-filled. Or multiplayer. Strata is relaxing. Calm. Fun. It's a very simple game: draw lines on a grid, so every square is covered by the same coloured line. But here's the twist: the colour needs to be the same on the top. What starts off as a simple, easy game becomes a mind-boggling addictive puzzle. I could spend the same amount of time into Counter-Strike as i could with Strata. It's that good. Soon, you'll be matching up lines everywhere! But gameplay isn't the only thing. Strata is beautifully designed, with clean, neat, paper-like formatting that is both relaxing to the eye and wonderfully complex. In addition, the sound is well done. Timing right with the game, it eases you straight into a position of comfortability and easy-mindedness. Beware! This game most certainly isn't Borderlands 2, but it is well worth 3.99 (2.99 on sale), for a relaxing puzzle game that you can play for hours on end. Just remember to take breaks once in a while.

The most Zen game you'll ever play. And I don't just mean its design. Its minimalist art style and pleasantly satisfying piano cues make it a joy just to be in there. But there is also the actual puzzle solving aspect. The puzzles themselves have an abstract way to them, and they'll put your mind to work. You'll wrack your brain figuring out the proper way to solve a stage... but just when you're about to give up, you'll simply [i]see[/i] it. Clear in your mind: the solution. You'll suddenly find yourself in the zone, and you'll be solving stages in a breeze, amid an unstoppable flow of clarity. It's a feeling that is hard to describe in words otherwise, so I highly recommend you experience it yourself.

A nice zen puzzler. You against your own intellect. Tranquil and meditative; provides food for thought. No rage-quits here. Well worth the money.

Looking for a beautiful, relaxing game? This is it. Similar in feel to Kami, Picross, Splice, Lyne. Everything from the graphics to the music, to the gameplay is incredibly zen and gives you peace of mind while still managing to engage you. Very easy to get into, even without the excellent yet simple tutorial. What made me first discover Strata and Kami was the wonderfully clean art-style, I was very surprised how well orchestrated the game is with small bits of beautifully crafted sounds. There seems to be no loading times for each puzzle which makes everything feel like it flows together beautifully, adding to the already peaceful setting of the game.

Strata is aesthetically minimalist but still manages an elegant beauty. Its sound design effectively communicates success and failure in a manner befitting the 'zen puzzler' mould it is trying to fill. Its minimalism extends to interface in a way that promotes the kind of 5 minute drop-in gaming that makes these games so addicting. Still I can't recommend this game because it fails in the one place that really matter, it's a weak puzzle. For the first 10 minutes or so I really enjoyed Strata, a simple but engaging puzzle format that seemed to have a lot of room for variation ahead of it. Then it hit me, there is a simple mechanical stratey to solve literally every puzzle of this format regardless of the size or number of colours. However complicated a solution may be it is always trivial to solve in reverse, this leads to the game quickly evolving into busywork. Even for this low price with all the pretty packaging a bad puzzle is a bad puzzle and a thorough waste of time. I kept hoping that in the later sets the game would through in some new spin or twist on the mechanics, unless it appears in the final 6x6 it never comes. I feel like there is something hidden within this concept that could be saved, maybe a block type that is set by the bottom ribbon or requires a particular ribbon combination? In its current state the game is nothing but dissapointing. MINOR ISSUES: the game had a few navigation bugs in the level select menu which require a restart to make the game playable again. Some of the ribbon colours seem too close to each other leading to silly mistakes, this wouldn't be a big deal if the perfect system didn't punish undoing.