Canveus

Myst was one of the most successful point & click adventure series ever released, and it even managed to create a unique genre for itself. Hence, unlike most other adventure games that relied on dialog, text and various other pointers to provide the players with puzzles, Myst used strange symbols and suggestive environments to guide them, making the whole thing that much more engaging.

Canveus was created for a game jam that celebrated the Myst series, so it’s only natural that it features many of the same ideas and elements. Hence, this is also a point & click adventure game in which you have to solve weird puzzles. Not only that, but the world in which the action takes place is quite unusual as well, which makes it that much more difficult to figure out what you need to do.

The story is quite simple, at least in theory. Your task is to return color to the world, since it starts as a black and white dimension with nothing but lines and shapes. You unlock colors one by one when you manage to solve the appropriate puzzles, since every shade has some sort of riddle associated with it. It may take you a while to figure out all of this, but only if you are new to the genre.

The main gameplay mechanic is switching, since most of what you have to do involves switching levers, gears, or various other similar objects. In essence, the goal is to reach an equilibrium with the right sequence of switches and activate all sorts of machinery. There are some hints you can observe along the way, but it’s mainly up to you and your imagination to figure things out.

As far as the visual quality is concerned, the game looks pretty impressive for an indie production, and even more so for a jam game created in a very short period of time. Hence, the artwork is fantastic, and it gets even better as you manage to return the colors one by one. The controls are simple and accurate as well, so you’ll never have trouble navigating the world.

In the end, Canveus is certainly not for beginners, but it’s not overly complex either. As such, if you enjoyed the classic Myst franchise and you miss the disorienting puzzle mechanics, this is certainly a great alternative you can try.