Sokodice (Review)
Source: Cashmoneys
Price: £4.79
Where To Get It: Steam
Dice puzzles are an interesting one. And yet… Minimalist just doesn’t feel right for it. But that’s what Sokodice went for: Simple, ambient, clean… A little sterile. And it doesn’t help that it feels like the keyboard controls change every now and again in terms of directions.
Anyway, yes, Sokodice. The general idea is to push one or more dice to a specific point, with a specific number on it, face by face. If the number you need is on top, congratulations, you pass! If not, well, you’ll get it eventually. Or you’ll restart it over and over again until you hit par. Depends how much you want that, or just to screw around with it. So, for example, if you have a 6 at the “front” of your move, and a two on top, one direction would end with a 3, another with 1, another with 4, and one, obviously, would end in 6. So the opposing top would take two moves in any direction.
I suck at these things, by the way. But it’s not the difficulty (It’s a puzzle involving space, your mileage will vary) that I find somewhat dull. After all, it adds little wrinkles, things to watch out for, as a good puzzle game does.
It’s the presentation. And the control weirdness. In essence, it’s better to play with the mouse then the keyboard, because it gets rid of “Which axis am I moving on again?” There is an undo, but save yourself the frustration if you get it.
No, it’s simply that this minimalism feels more workmanlike than an aesthetic decision. It feels lacking in character. Maybe I’m spoiled on that front, but still… Even when it gets into more colourful designs and tunes, it feels, as I’ve noted, sterile. Lacking feeling.
In any case, Sokodice is less than £5, so if puzzle enthusiasts want to give it a go, then it’s not a big investment, although I would say that dice puzzles are not a beginner puzzle set, so people getting into puzzle games may find only frustration. Personally… It just didn’t grab me.
The Mad Welshman is always sad when something doesn’t grab him, because the devs put in hard work to make their cool stuff. But… Can’t be helped.