In Perspecto, you are presented with a different shape each level that is usually coloured in some specific way. Along the top of the screen is your target shape, so you need to turn, twist and manoeuvre the shape in front of you to reach your goal.
At the start, Perspecto has you just moving the shapes up and down, left and right, altering your perspective subtly, but after the first few levels it introduces a far deeper, more frustrating puzzle element.
If you’ve played one of those slider puzzles while waiting for your Grandmother to get ready, you’ll immediately understand. As you progress through the game, Perspecto shifts from a simple realignment game, into a multi-coloured, multi-dimension slider puzzle.
Not only do you need to ensure your shape matches the above example in orientation, you now need to move individual parts of the puzzle around itself, following along preordained paths that make the entire experience feel like a slightly broken Rubix Cube.[sc name=”quote” text=”you now need to move individual parts of the puzzle around itself, following along preordained paths that make the entire experience feel like a slightly broken Rubix Cube.”]
Some pieces can be moved, but some cannot, so you are forced to move the pieces based on what the game has decided you are able to. This is immensely frustrating, but also a lifesaver – though it’s annoying to march to someone else’s tune, having only a specific direction to go in means that there is a limited number of things you can screw up.
By a process of trial and error, you’ll get there eventually.
Perspecto obviously seeks to intrigue the player with its gimmick of different perspectives. There are plenty of times when you’ll solve a puzzle and receive that “Ohhh of course!” moment. The answer was right there all along, you just needed to look at it from a different angle to finally get it.
This kind of “Aha!” is precisely what many puzzle games seek to create – the sudden feeling of satisfaction mixed with the pleasure of a job well done. If you use that feeling as the measuring stick for success in a puzzle game, then Perspecto is a fantastic success.[sc name=”quote” text=”No one would ever admit to actually enjoying slider puzzles – they’re the game designed to be played when you simply have nothing else to do.”]
However, Perspecto suffers beyond that because of the irritation in attempting to solve the slider puzzles. No one would ever admit to actually enjoying slider puzzles – they’re the game designed to be played when you simply have nothing else to do.
The fact that Perspecto relies so heavily on its slider puzzles to lend it sufficient difficulty is a serious mark against it. When playing Perspecto, you know you’re enjoying yourself, know that you’re approaching success at the end but… you’re also so bored at the thought of solving this damned slider puzzle.
Despite this, Perspecto is a good game; it rewards players intrinsically by making them feel good about themselves, plus has a pleasant and fitting ascetic. It’s just that one of its main features is one of the worst, most boring puzzles ever made.
[review pros=”Filled with plenty of Aha! moments. Simple and elegant in its ascetics.” cons=”The use of slider puzzles for additional difficulty is mind-bogglingly boring.” score=6]
[appbox appstore id1336046182]
