Moai

Exploring new worlds is something most people would like to do, especially if they were certain that nothing dangerous lives on the worlds in question. Seeing something for the first time has a unique feeling associated with it, which is why so many people put their lives at risk every day to visit derelict places around our planet. Thankfully, we can satiate our need for exploration with video games, especially thanks to the new virtual reality trend.

Moai is a simple, yet quite powerful exploration game in which your goal is to walk around strange worlds and solve a few riddles while you’re at it. The big idea is that these mysteries and the worlds are randomly generated using procedural algorithms, which should theoretically keep you busy forever. However, the gimmick gets old after a while, especially in a game such as this one.

To begin with, the puzzles you have to solve appear to be similar to what you may have seen in games like Myst, because the are mostly based on symbols. Obviously, some of them can be pretty challenging and annoying, especially since there’s no interesting story behind them to make everything click. On the other hand, it doesn’t really matter as long as you are in it for the fun.

The worlds you explore seem to be designed out of multiple types of biomes, or one might even call them seasons. Hence, you can walk around volcanoes and red, glowing trees, or you can enjoy a frozen landscape that features snow and cold mountains. Even if these are randomly generated, it’s still nice to know that the landscape can change after a few more steps.

Speaking of which, the graphics are designed using the low-poly style, but they look pretty nice even if the polygon count is very low. Granted, you shouldn’t expect too much either, especially when it comes to how everything ties together, but there are some interesting sights to admire along the way, at least if you are patient enough.

When it’s all said and done, Moai has the potential to keep you playing for a while, but it also lacks the complexity to be remembered by those who play it. Hence, it needs more work before it’s ready to compete with the best out there.