Abyssal Zone Demo

Even the simplest ideas can be turned into successful video games, especially if you manage to turn those ideas into addictive gameplay mechanics. Puzzles are always intriguing, and they have the power to keep the players engaged for a long time, especially if they feature simple core mechanics. On the other hand, this is also the road that leads to repetitive levels if the developers are not careful.

Abyssal Zone is a 2D puzzle game with a simple idea at its core, as well as challenging riddles and a co-op mode to share the pain with a friend. In short, the main gimmick is that your character can only rotate clockwise, which makes movement a challenge in itself. The only other action at your disposal is a short burst forward, and you have to combine these two mechanics to solve all sorts of puzzles.

Some of the levels are basically Sokoban all over again, which means that you have to move objects around in the correct sequence without getting stuck or getting the objects stuck. Other times you simply have to unlock doors by rotating switches, although even this is considerably more difficult than it sounds, given the fact that you have to land on the switch facing the right way.

The annoying part is that the levels start to become repetitive after a while, although the mechanics are challenging enough to distract you from this fact. Hence, it’s not a huge problem, depending on whether you get stuck along the way or not. The fact that you can only rotate in one direction can get on your nerves, mainly because it’s a very slow way to move.

Lastly, the retro graphics are not much of a bother most of the time, because you have to concentrate on the puzzles instead. The simple environments are nothing to write home about, on the other hand, so they can be an eyesore if you spend too much time in the game. However, they can trigger a few nostalgia episodes, because they are fairly authentic in this regard.

Abyssal Zone is not the most approachable puzzle game out there, nor is it the prettiest. Even so, it can certainly put your mind to work if you give it a chance, and taking a break every now and again can keep the repetitive levels from getting on your nerves as well.