Enigmo Review

At the onset of writing this review, I'm not sure yet what rating I'll give Enigmo. It'll either be a 3 stars or 4 stars out of 5. Quite simply, this is because I'm not yet sure how I feel about the game. It's kind of like when you call your roofing guy to complain that he hasn't yet come out to fix the shingles that blew off about two months after he put them on. You don't think you're really mad at first, but the longer you talk to the answering machine and explain that he's missed his repair date four times now, the more angry you become until, at the end, you're yelling into the phone.

Not that I'm mad at Enigmo, of course. It's done everything it said it was going to do, that being to puzzle and entertain me at a fairly low cost. What I'm not sure about here is the puzzle/fun ratio.

As with most puzzle games, the premise is very simple. You've got this flowing stream of liquid, and you've got to funnel it into the proper receptical. Of course, it wouldn't be a puzzle game if this weren't very difficult to do. The liquid takes some crazy paths, and you've got a large number of devices (bumpers, sliders, accelerators, sponges and such) to put in its way, diverting it either to another device or to (hopefully) its final destination.

The game starts out fairly easy, of course, as the early levels mainly serve to introduce you to the various devices and how they affect the flow of the liquid. It's also helpful that most the levels don't require you to be exact. Quite often, there's not just one solution to the puzzle, so you're not forced to think the same way as the developer. It's not too long, however, before things get nuts in there. I was only a few levels in before I had to completely abandon the idea of beating the timer to get the bonus points. I spent more time just staring blankly at the screen–desperately trying to recall what I'd learned in sophomore physics–than I did in actually moving the devices around the board.

Luckily, the screen is plenty of fun to look at. Pangea games are always gorgeous, but Enigmo is so in a different manner. Rather than create a lush, colorful 3D environment, Pangea focuses solely on 3D animations to bring Enigmo to life. It's a whirling dervish of a game, and a capable video card will allow the graphics to flow smoothly at even the low-end of the system requirements detailed above.

The music is excellent, too. Rather than write up a new soundtrack, Pangea simply incorporated tracks from their previous games. Although some of the pieces seem a bit out of place here, most bring an extra beat of energy and urgency to the game, and they're as fun to listen to as the graphics are to watch.

Now, this is all well and good, but puzzle games are all about the puzzles, and Enigmo is maddening in its scope. There are 70 levels to beat, and they get difficult very quickly. What's more, there's also a level editor; puzzle gamers everyone can lash out at those around them by creating Enigmo puzzles more diabolical than those actually included in the game. Or, if you have a young'n who enjoys the game but can't get past level three, you can create easier levels just for him. I can even see this game being used for extra credit in some high school physics class (considering Pangea's history of support for education, that makes more sense than you might think).

The puzzles in Enigmo are mainly about studying the environment and knowing the devices at your disposal. How does water react with the sponge? How does oil react with the bumper? What will happen with the lava if you rotate the slider just a little bit? The game is made more complex by having to accomplish elements in a certain order. You not only have to divert 50 drops of liquid into the receptacle, you also have to first gain access to the receptacle. There's a lot about which to think, here, and it's rare that I ever solved a puzzle correctly on the first try. Trial and error is the way to get through this game.

And there's the rub. On some of the levels, the puzzles became more of a frustration to me than a challenge of my problem solving skills. With no hope of beating the timer, I'd end up randomly placing objects until I achieved the results I wanted. The "Eureka!" moments usually reserved for such games were quite often replaced with, "Oh...well, whatever works."

Still, there's plenty to be said for Enigmo's originality even within its own genre. While most puzzle games these days are about removing blocks, adding blocks, changing the color of blocks, or just plain block, block, blocking 'til the weekend, Enigmo brings something fresh to the mix. It's wonderful to look at and to hear, and the wealth of puzzles and infinite replayability (provided enough gamers take advantage of the level editor; which they should, as Pangea is currently running a contest in which the designer of the best custom Enigmo game file will win a new Apple iPod) will keep MENSA members (or, at least hard-core puzzle gamers) busy for quite some time. For these reasons, along with the low $17.95 price, I'll go ahead and give Enigmo a 4 out of 5. It's a cautious 4, though; a 4 reserved for those not likely to ask, "What's the point?" while attempting to solve the same style (but increasingly challenging) puzzles for hours on end.

It's reserved for the type who enjoyed geometry and physics.

Me? I'd rather save my anger and frustration for my roofing contractor.