Check Yo' Self Before Yo reky Yo' Self

Filling a page with observations, anecdotes, and the occasional fact has never been an issue. Useful information to help you decide on a purchase? That’s debatable, but are there enough words for a leisurely read? Check. If you haven’t guessed, I’m already struggling with reky.

reky is an unusual puzzler that’s hard to put into words, but to fast-track the outcome here, well-worth a hands-on play to get a feel for it. You start as this black bouncy orb and move around M.C. Escher-like environments, manipulating them with splashes of colour and their placement so you can get through the finish line. Re-reading that makes it sound pretty straightforward, but a glance at the UI makes it oh-so-complex unnecessarily.

A middle finger to some of the most recent puzzle games released, you can undo a move and restart. This is important as you’re ranked on the number of moves, a.k.a. jumps, it takes to complete a stage. There aren’t any timers or metaphorical spanners thrown in to ruin your day: take your time and think things through, or jump in with a two-footed tackle and wing it. I did it for some of the problems as it was getting sweaty.

First, reky is about creating paths in a somewhat illusion-like 3D obstacle course. That means lining up blocks to build paths or bridges so you can reach that exit hole. Gross. But seriously, RedDeer Games’ latest is very simple in design but fiendishly challenging in places and offers up plenty of ‘worlds’ to play through.

Another benefit is the game’s replayability, beating your personal best and jumping less. I guess what I’m really trying to articulate here is reky is a decent indie puzzler that is both enjoyable and challenging, all processed into some rather elegant visuals. It’s a thumbs-up for me. Now, let’s do another review…