PEGBRJE: Dawn of a Soul and Blast Rush
So you like MATH?
Dawn of a Soul is a visualized math puzzle game made by Waldemar Umaniz, indie dev and one half of the indie duo Tapehead Games in Germany. In this solo project, players are stuck without a soul and are hoping to gain it back. Unfortunately, it appears to be fragmented into 97 pieces, and the only way to get all the pieces back is to solve odd math puzzles made by a terrifying statue.
How the puzzles work is somewhat tricky to understand, but thankfully the introductory tutorial is committed to ensuring that players ‘get’ the game. The goal is to connect all nodes on screen together and have them equal the number listed on the bottom. Each node added to the chain adds its value on to the bottom total, indicated by the equation where the left number is the sum of the nodes connected. Where things get funky is in the curious symbols that appear upon connecting a new node. These are soul fragments, and upon reaching 6 (such as connecting three nodes of two), award a small number to the top right of the curser. This allows players to jump to new colours and continue the chain of nodes, while also altering the right number of the equation: the multiplier. See, every time a new colour is ‘hopped’ by the player, the multiplier increases by 1 and altering the math equation. Instead of now being simple addition, multiplication is added to reach these absurd number heights. Upon the mathematics becoming a bit more complicated, the equation at the bottom may give two answers instead of one. The second is the minimum answer required in order to advance the game forward, with the second being the perfect solution to the problem.
It becomes more of a logic-based puzzle at this point, for strategizing how to ensure that there will be enough soul fragments to make the jump to the next colour (they can be banked, thankfully) and continue the chain of nodes. Since chains cannot be crossed, spatial awareness is key to ensure that some nodes don’t get left out in the cold or the chain gets stuck surrounded. It’s structurally quite similar to the line puzzles that require the player to connect all the dots without lines crossing, with the added difficulty of ensuring math works out as well. The real challenge is the maps that require two chains to complete, indicated on the right hand side; these maps might be able to be completed in a single chain, but it is highly unlikely and won’t result in the completion of the map. Instead, players will need to figure out where the first chain can ‘end’ and remove all of the nodes connected to then connect the remaining series of math nodes and achieve the correct number of points. This style is by far the hardest to wrap the mind around, as it now requires the ability to see when to finish the first line and still achieve victory.
Dawn of a Soul is a curious puzzle title, mixing in the strategy of completion-line puzzles with the mathematical precision of.. well, math. Thanks to the two-answer system, players can spend hours on a single puzzle that they had technically finished and succeeded simply because they hadn’t achieved the ‘optimal’ answer. Granted, these answers are all lovingly shown on the website for the game, so if you get stuck (like I did once) they are there to help. Overall, the title brings a mystical charm to it with its pixelated art style and melancholy tones, and allows for players to enjoy puzzles based on multiple logics. If you are one that’s loved puzzles in this bundle, this one will be another fine addition to the collection.
Blast Rush is an arcade shmup made by Bipedal Dog, an indie dev out of the United States. In this iteration, players pick between one of three ships and attempt to reach the end of the 40 levels through some good ol’ fashioned bullet extravaganza.
Let’s get the basics done first, this is textbook shoot-em-up territory. Each ship that players can choose has a unique bomb/special move that will be doing the heavy lifting for the entirety of the run. The bullets are on autocast and aren’t really for damage as much as they are for tagging and points, making the reliance on the bomb crucial for success. Players also have little mini ‘blasters’ on the sides of their ship that activate upon going in the opposite direction — just like physics and all — which can destroy the oncoming dangers. Speaking of the dangers, there’s a reason I’ve avoided calling this a bullet hell, for in truth there aren’t really enemy bullets; instead, the ships themselves are bullets.
The unique aspect of Blast Rush, outside of the lack of bullets, is the hyper dodging mechanic. See, players don’t actually have lives; one hit from a singular ship and boom, dead. To combat this, the singular pick up available to players is a floating H square, which gives players a single instance of what I like to call ‘super slowmo’. Triggered by a hostile getting within a certain distance to the ship, the entire game slows down and zooms in for a set amount of time to allow players to dodge the oncoming danger, reset themselves and carry on. This consumes the charge, however, which is the biggest juggling issue with the resource: I’ve accidentally triggered the slowmo at times that I didn’t want to, losing the free save and regretting it upon accidentally dying to a wave that I forgot existed. Funny enough, I actually played more safe while holding onto them as I wanted to ensure that they would activate at an actual emergency instead of because I was getting reckless.
While there are only 40 levels to complete in the standard Blast Rush game, there is a timed variant of the mode as well as the Endurance mode to see how far one can reach. There are also achievements to try for if you’re feeling like seeing how many bombs have been set off. Overall, it’s a fun little arcade shooter to jump in to, complete with retro aesthetic and a pretty damn solid sound track to accompany. If you’ve been following this list for the shmups, add this one to the list.
