I was very much attracted to Snake Puzzle, a variant of the classical game in which a snake climbs around eating apples and growing longer while trying not to die by falling into thorns or off the ledges. Notably, the game mechanics involve gravity (acting towards the bottom of the screen), so the snake will fall downwards unless at least part of its body is supported by some game object underneath it. Furthermore, there is also a sokoban-like element — stone blocks that the snake can push around and slither onto. All of these elements add complexity to the game, creating states from which the player cannot “backtrack” from, forcing players to plan ahead, which the length of the snake often being a deciding factor of success or failure. For example, if the ledges form a cave-like structure enclosing an apple, a snake that is too big will be unable to turn around and crawl out once it eats the apple. Similarly, a snake that is too small will be unable to cross a chasm in space between ledges, unless it manages to eat apples along the way to increase its length. The gravity element also creates original scenarios, since I could re-arrange the snake into specific shapes by using controlled falls, and I had to keep track of how to cantilever the snake to avoid thorns dynamically. Therefore, it was important to strategically plan the order in which to eat the apples, often ignoring readily-available gains in favor of long-term sustainability.
While I would consider Snake Puzzle a platforming game, it does not require fast reflexes to judge complex situations and execute player moves, instead relying more on creative thinking to progress in difficult situations. The 200+ levels are not arranged in order of difficulty, so I would have a series of relatively solvable puzzles followed by one which would challenge my strategic planning abilities. While it was upsetting to be unable to solve certain difficult levels, the game gave out some free hints, and other hints were accessible after watching adds, so the main point of tension was whether I would give up and look at the solution or continue thinking on my own. Most gratifying was how it combined familiar elements from classic screen games while forcing the player to consider gravity, which is more associated with 3-dimensions, simplifying the learning process while encouraging creative gameplay. The main flaw I noticed what that the game did not have a simple undo button in case you accidentally make a wrong move, so that I would have to start over and retrace all my steps, which was frustrating when levels consisted of lengthy sequences of steps.
