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Tag: Puzzle »

Steam Link Spotlight - Nuclear Blaze

Posted by Campbell Bird on October 29th, 2021
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Steam Link Spotlight is a feature where we look at PC games that play exceptionally wall using the Steam Link app. Our last entry looked at If On a Winter's Night, Four Travelers. Read about how it plays using Steam Link over here.

This entry is for a game that isn't quite exceptional on Steam Link so much as it is exceptional for the kind of game that it is. Nuclear Blaze is an action-oriented puzzle-platformer where you play a firefighter who finds themselves in a mysterious subterranean nuclear facility.

The basic idea of the game is that you're armed with a water pack and hose which you use to help you navigate your environment, most of which is on fire. By aiming your hose and making judicious use of your limited water supply, you can douse the flames of an area, which typically allows you to move on to the next room.

The key to putting out fires in Nuclear Blaze is to do so quickly and strategically. If you put out a portion of a fire, it always has the chance to relight if left too long next to things that continue to burn. You can't just spray your hose willy nilly though or you'll run out of water, so making your way through a room often looking like charting a path that allows you to reach the flames effectively while also passing water stations to refill your tank, and then seeing if you can execute on that path in a timely fashion.

Because of how timing and efficiency are important in Nuclear Blaze, I wasn't confident that it would feel good when streamed to a touchscreen device. But, to my surprise, it works pretty well! I think most of this is due to the game's overall design. It doesn't have particularly complicated controls, and the way that most rooms let you take your time to figure out your approach to extinguishing fires no matter how many times you've already tried to solve it, are tremendously helpful to making it a comfy experience on iOS.

That said, the easiest control layout for the game is to use virtual buttons, which isn't ideal. As you can see in the video capture of the game there are times where I missed button presses and died as a result, but Nuclear Blaze is thankfully quite generous with its checkpointing so it didn't feel like a huge setback.

Even thought it's not perfect on Steam Link, Nuclear Blaze was surprisingly fun to play. I could also see it getting some revamped controls and coming to mobile at some point, since there is nothing else about it from a visual or complexity standpoint that would hold it back on mobile devices. I'm not sure that will ever happen, but one can hope!

Nuclear Blaze was developed and published by Deepnight Games. It launched on October 18, 2021 and is available on Steam for $9.99.

Doors: Paradox review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on October 26th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: DOOR-O-RAMA
This puzzle game keeps things chill and manageable in all of its fun diorama-based levels.
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sugar (game) review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on October 19th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: TOO MUCH SUGAR
This physics puzzler starts out as a sweet surprise but grows stale the further you get into it.
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Nauticrawl review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on September 24th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: MYSTERY MECH
Nauticrawl is an immensely rewarding narrative adventure about learning how to drive an otherworldly vehicle to freedom.
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Behind the Frame review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on August 25th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: ART IMITATES ART
This narrative adventure starts as a meditation on the life of an artist before revealing some hidden layers to its story.
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Puzzles & Survival adds new hero and other gifts to make zombie-killing more fun in its first anniversary

Posted by Alina Gasca on August 24th, 2021
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Who would’ve thought you’d need to use your brain to keep your brain intact? If you want to
steer clear of zombies feasting on your noggin, you’ll have to solve puzzles in Puzzles &
Survival, which is celebrating its first anniversary right now. 37GAMES’ match-3 mobile strategy game invites players to vote on a new skin for Nova (modern or fantasy), as well as craft adventure stories in the future for a new protagonist, Samuel.

Samuel, while previously just a poster boy for Puzzles & Survival, is now a fully usable character with high hit points and a Last Stand ability that can boost his damage output. He can inspire his fellow combatants in the team as well. With the deadly virus sweeping the world, you’ll do everything you can to survive the apocalypse - and Samuel’s Infinite Fury skill on the verge of death can restore a teammate to full fury.

Aside from limited-time in-game anniversary gifts as a thank-you to the fans, players can look forward to the new IP crossover event coming in September. Care to venture a guess? To make sure you don’t miss out on all the post-apocalyptic survival mayhem, download Puzzles & Survival on the App Store and on Google Play and check out the game’s official Facebook page. It’s a free-to-play game with in-app purchases.

You Should Play Baba Is You on iOS

Posted by Campbell Bird on June 25th, 2021
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad


Baba Is You released on iOS this week, and you should probably play it. If you're unfamiliar with the 2019 puzzle game, it's ostensibly about pushing things around as a little sheep. The only catch is that some of the objects you can push around in levels just so happen to also be the words that dictate the game rules, allowing you to change their meaning at will.

Letter Rooms review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on June 8th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: ATYPICAL ANAGRAMS
Letter Rooms packs a lot of punch by limiting its length and offering up only the best of its anagram puzzles.
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Day Repeat Day review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on April 21st, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: TOO CLOSE A MATCH
Day Repeat Day feels less like satire the more you play it.
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Cards! - MonkeyBox 2 review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on April 19th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: SECOND COMING
This card-based adventure makes trial-and-error fun and snappy.
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Doctor Who: Lonely Assassin‪s review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on March 23rd, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: LONELY FOR WHO?
This licensed “found phone” adventure game is an enjoyable—though extremely directed—experience.
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Lyxo review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on March 1st, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: FADING LIGHT
The lighting model in this game is really fun to play with, but at a certain point you’re no longer allowed to do that.
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Wordsmyth review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on February 26th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: SMOOTH SEARCH
Wordsmyth is a refreshingly chill take on Boggle.
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Inked: A Tale of Love review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on February 24th, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: TRACED TROPES
Inked would be a more enjoyable game if it had a better sense of what it wanted to be.
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Pink review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Campbell Bird on February 1st, 2021
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: LOUD AND PROUD
Pink is the brightest and boldest color-inspired puzzle game from Bart Bonte yet.
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