*MSRP: $16.99 (Steam) – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1137350/Filament/
I’ll start off by saying Filament genuinely took me by surprise. I make it a habit to play games blind, not reading or watching anything at all, to make sure my first impression of the game is my own and untainted in any way. So when I started the game up, I did not know what to expect other than what the title screen looked like.
After playing the game for a few minutes, it quickly became apparent that this game was incredibly well designed, and incredibly difficult as well.
Filament is a puzzle game where your main goal is to loop wires around beacons to activate them all, and then exit the room via the door. This sound simple in theory but quickly becomes very difficult because the wire also blocks your movement as well. The game slowly introduces new mechanics that make it more difficult to clear the rooms.
The game’s design is incredibly intuitive in that the level design itself gives up very subtle hints as to the possible routes you can take to clear the room. It still remains difficult because the hints only give you a slight look into a section of the solution, and never the whole. This results in an experience that is challenging but incredibly rewarding when you finally find the solution.
Filament is not like other puzzle games that strike a fine balance of being easy enough to find the solution but slightly difficult enough to appear as a challenge. Filament is definitely a challenge and makes no effort to hide it. Even some of the beginning levels may leave you pleasantly stumped.
This game may not be for everyone but it has become one of my personal favorites of all time.
