PEGBRJE: Puzlogic and Ripped Pants at Work
Small titles for the brain.
Puzlogic is a minimalist puzzle title made by Eduardo Barreto, a solo dev out of Portugal. Inspired by sudoku and kakuro, this title will have players looking to put numbered tiles into squares, ensuring the rows and columns all live in harmony.
To those familiar with sudoku, this will be a welcome sight; the goal is to ensure that each column and row does not have the same number twice. The difference being that unlike a standard sudoku board that also requires no duplicates within a 3x3 grid square, the board of Puzlogic does not retain to this law. Instead, the board is fractured with squares floating free and not providing a 3x3 grid. There is also the lack of a 1–9 numbering, and instead has a different array of numbers required to solve per puzzle. These numbers are found on the tiles below, which are needed to place within the correct location on the board to mimic the functionality of a standard sudoku puzzle. It keeps it relatively simple at first, to ease players that may not enjoy or are familiar with sudoku to allow for the brain to be teased without the need for the full on 3x3 with 3x3 grid powers.
Where the ‘fusion’ comes in is in the form of kakuro, or Cross Sums as it was known in Canada. Similar to sudoku, players would implement numbers within a grid, with a small caveat; the numbers needed to add together to create the sums listed on the rows and columns. Duplications were not allowed, but the rows and columns were also not always the full distance of the board and would instead be broken by black cells to indicate a new ‘grouping’ of sorts. This is where Puzlogic begins, and where the number crunching gets intricate. See, the introduction of kakuro within the board serves as ‘clues’ in order to solve the sudoku as well, as the board may not have enough numbers around to give hints as is. This helps to grasp the overall understanding that these mathematics are the keys to success, especially when players are introduced to the dual-coloured tile system and need to focus on which colour of tile will actually be used in an equation.
Everything else about Puzlogic is meant to relax and soothe, because the brain will do enough of the work stressing you out when trying to solve the problem. The simplicity of its aesthetic betrays the brain power needed to keep track of the number crunching and the numbers that matter to certain tiles against the ones that don’t. Thankfully you can put little markers down to keep track of your thoughts, but it might just end up confusing you further. If you love brain teasers, this is definitely one to try.
Ripped Pants at Work is a ‘stealth’ game made by Scott Ethington, a solo indie dev operating out of the USA and maker of many other small titles. This one, however, has players reliving a nightmare that isn’t as prominent nowadays thanks to working from home: what to do when your pants rip at the office? Unfortunately, ‘rip’ may be an understatement. It’s more accurate to ask “What happens when your pants explode in the office, there are no spares around and nobody is willing to assist or help so one must take matters into their own hands by scrounging the city?
Players must embark on this terrifying journey into the city with only the advice of their fellow coworker to work with, before they fall off their table. The goal is to find a pair of stray pants out in the ‘wild’ — ignoring the possible connotations that one is stealing pants or where those pants have been — and put them on before they are fired for public indecency. To do this, players need to be sneaky and out of sight, staying behind others and hiding in waist-high objects to ensure that nobody can see their undergarments. Running past viewers will cause them to question what they see for a short period before registering it, so if players can quickly escape their watchful gaze, the bystanders will go back to doing their previous tasks. If not, however, the “?” will turn into a “!”, meaning that the embarrassment meter will begin to rise. The transition between the two states relies on how long players are within their sight and the proximity to the bystander in question; those that attempt to run past somebody up close will see the underwear runner much clearer than someone a dozen feet away. The more “!”, the quicker the meter will rise until it maxes out and the player is fired from their job.
This is how the game proceeds, as the player hopes to find a pair of pants in the wild while avoiding those that wish to oust them as pantsless. Finding a pair isn’t the end, though; now they must be put on, which cannot be done whilst running for their decency. If successful, the game is complete, and it shows the number of pants throughout the city that can be found.
And then it happens again, but with a different person.
Ripped Pants at Work is an infinite kind of stealth title, one where the objective doesn’t always have to be in the same place every game. Since the pants never change locations, each attempt players can look for another pair of pants to acquire and grow their collection, rather than just running for the same pants every time. Over time, the city will become mastered as players effortlessly know where and when citizens will be wandering around, gloating about their pant superiority or trying to catch their loud children. It’s small and fun, capturing the best aspects of stealth games with the cheeky humor of a bizarre situation. If you are looking for a quick title to run and find pants, this is definitely one to try.
One more thing: the horn blare when a citizen notices the player? Absolutely priceless.
