The problem is that after level three, the game starts repeating itself. New tools get introduced, a tape strip here, a different stencil there, but the core logic never really changes. You are doing the same reverse-engineering with minor visual variations. There isn’t that experience that draws players in a deeper engagement, building on that importance of complexity in varied thinking, which this game does not do. In my mind, I began to feel like a factory worker, rather than playing a game. Additionally, puzzles should have little replay value, yet this game does not introduce something new with each level, that is worth solving for. So it is a puzzle game, but not a good one in general. Again, it’s good for short-term play.
In elaborating the design, the visuals are minimal and consistent, which feels intentional at first, but after several levels it shows a lack of investment in the player’s experience, as I soon after got Wingstop from the on-call after level 4. There is no narrative, no character, nothing pulling you deeply into an experience of play. The best puzzles should draw players into the environment the story in general, but the puzzle is only a puzzle, and not much else with regard to the aesthetic of the game.
On the ethics, the game assumes players have an intuitive understanding of building layers, similar to gift wrapping or painting. Players without those experiences may find the logic of ordering unintuitive. Even for me, I sometimes had to put some genuine thought into the layering. Beyond that, the game relies entirely on color differentiation between layers with no alternative for players with potential color vision problems (if you are color blind with the colors associated with the game, that’s not a good play experience). Certain paint combinations become functionally indistinguishable, making those levels unsolvable not by difficulty but by design. To reiterate the essence of the readings, finding fun in puzzles is about your design being accessible to the audience you design for. If a portion of your audience cannot physically perceive the difference between actions, the puzzle stops being fun
