After Hours Reviews

I liked the puzzled. kept me busy for a few days. would recommend.

Skippable. Some of the puzzles [spoiler] and especially the gimmick with the ISBN [/spoiler] I liked, but as a game that uses things like binary text and morse code not being able to copy text or at least leave the window open is very detrimental. Also, some of the puzzles I found extremely difficult and frustrating. I didn't really enjoy the story either. The voice acting was very "acted" and I [spoiler] really don't think the twist at the end worked [/spoiler] In my opinion a puzzle game should be focused and uncluttered (or at least make very clear what is part of the puzzle and what isn't), and this is the opposite. You can solve three different puzzles from the start one of which is very easy and gives you a hint that relates to a puzzle [b]way[/b] later in the game, the other two aren't clearly separate. Most of the time I spent with this game I was frustrated and wondering what to do and what parts to put together. It's not the worst game I've ever played, but there's better ways to spend 3-4 hours.

I'm going to have to say no. But not that I think this isn't a decent game. It's just not what I expected and honestly, not a game I feel compelled to play. When you see the screen shots you almost get that feeling this is another Pony Island type game. However, this game is nothing like Pony Island, just get that out of your head right now! What this game IS, is a puzzler. A game full of riddles and puzzles designed to force you to use Google almost as much as you interact with the game itself. You see the screen shots? You'd expect the game to have that old PC sound. Something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwj8nfsk2Hs Like hard drives ticking and spinning, a slight high pitched buzz from the monitor, the sound of fans that were way louder 30 years ago, or even as much as a click when you press the mouse. Nope! This game does bare minimuim with sound effects. Basically you only get a few sounds in the in-game games and an error sound when you put in the wrong password. Nothing else! The narrative feels barebones as well. When you start the game you get a small text file telling you what your goal is and that's really it. There's no world building or even a feeling of acomplishment. When you solve a puzzle it just gives you another riddle or puzzle. Granted I was only able to solve 3 or 4 puzzles, but by that point I really had no more interest the game as my goal felt further than when I started as each puzzle just added more layers instead of giving me an sense of accomplishment. Loading the game took longer than expected. It was close to 1.5 minutes. The game is very augmented reality based. You have to leave the game to search for clues a lot. However, the game is fullscreen exclusive. So you have to minimize the game to search for clues. I've had to take more photos of the game with my cellphone than I care to admit. Minimizing the game instead of being able to use my 2nd monitor takes what very little nostalgia this game conjured up and removes it all completely. Windowed or fullscreen windowed modes would have helped a lot. Or if it came up as a virtual terminal that you logged into at the begining and kept the game in windowed mode. That could have explained why there is no sound. If the nostalgia was there. If the game was fullscreen windowed. If a few of the early puzzles had simple solutions that led to a completion of events and perhaps more narrative unlocking to hook you in, I think I would have enjoyed this game. But as is, this game will really only appeal to hardcore adventure types or those who just can't move on until they've solved a puzzle for solving a puzzle's sake. Unfortunately I do not fall into that category of gamer.