Finished this game the day before my free trial expired!

This is another placement-based puzzle game with grid-based movement. In each level, you control one of five different atoms, with various other atoms scattered around the stage; the objective is to form bonds between the atoms until no atom is left unstable, and you can see how many more bonds to form on a specific atom before it becomes stable by looking at the number of white circles orbiting said atom. If an atom is unstable, it will automatically bond when moved next to another unstable atom, but stable atoms can move past unstable atoms no problem, or even (push/be pushed by) unstable atoms. Also, unlike the last puzzle game I wrote about, all of these levels are self-contained, so you can solve every level the moment you reach them.

A bit about the U.I.: I like how the white circles represent the number of bonds left rather than the number of valence electrons; that way, players don’t need a periodic table handy. However, I do think that the first couple stages could’ve drawn a bit more attention to the white circles and how they represent how many bonds the atoms need, as I didn’t even notice those circles were there for a while. Maybe everything on screen could dim besides the two circles about to bond, then have them stretch over each other to connect. Of course, this drawn-out effect would only be for the first level or two, kinda like how the first tutorial mission in Advance Wars show’s the enemy’s movement range and path during the enemy’s turn before, after a mission or two, transitioning to the standard quick, automatic movement of units.

My biggest issue with the game is that the difficulty is extremely variable, and not just because the game has constantly branching paths with entire sections of levels having their own exclusive gimmick that doesn’t show up in any other section, meaning the game is constantly having to lower its difficulty to introduce the next mechanic. Even if you take a section by itself and try to play its levels more or less from start to finish, it isn’t uncommon for there to be a series of tricky stages followed by a stage that’s so easy, you end up solving it in less than a minute without really thinking. Even the post-game, despite having some of the hardest puzzles in the game, also occasionally has a stage with a simple solution that doesn’t take much thought to reach.

Oh, and unlike the last game, where there was little fanfare when you complete the post-game, this game has NO fanfare when you finish all the levels; that’s minimalism for you. At least it rolls the credits when the main set of levels are completed.

With all that said, the game does have its fair share of tricky puzzles, so I quite liked this game overall. If you’re a fan of puzzle games, I’d recommend this game; just be aware that its difficulty is less of a linear progression and more of a sine curve.