Everything was fine and dandy for the small village of windmills until, for inexplicable reasons, they ran Out of Wind, a catastrophe considering all village life is centered around these gust-fueled contraptions. The villagers' lives now hang in the balance unless someone (you, in fact) can repair the gears and bring the mills back into working order in this pretty physics puzzle game by Lampogolovii.

Initially, fixing the windmills is a basic procedure; you're given a set number of gears in varying sizes and your job is to place them just so. You'll know you did right because the graceful arms of the windmill will wave their happy gratitude at you. Matters soon require more intricate solutions, though, involving lights needing power and forges for building new gears. A degree in engineering isn't required—some scrutiny and experimentation is all it takes to succeed in each of the twenty levels. This size makes Out of Wind just right for filling leisure time but a bit disappointing in terms of longevity, so those craving Mensa-level challenge could feel slightly glum. Still, it's well-designed and a breeze to play without need for tutorial albeit someone did find herself not grasping the forging concept all that quickly. It does feel familiar and simple in notion, especially to those who play a lot of physics-based games. Players of hybrid adventure casual games have probably encountered mini-games of the same venue. In fact, if the style and mechanics seem akin to A Magnetic Adventure, it's because both games have designers in common.

Like arranging a pattern of dominoes merely to set them falling in a harmonious sequence, a lot of pleasure comes from getting those gears to turn and the windmills operating. If gazing at the spinning mechanisms wasn't enough, gentle sounds and music by Ahura might possible lure you into a trance, so be advised: do not play while operating heavy machinery. Leric's artwork and color palate of warm spring pastels bolsters the effect for a game that brings both peace and cheerfulness while stimulating that "need to fix it" gene in all of us. When thereafter everything is just fine, you can rest on your laurels knowing you saved a village. No Don Quixote, but adored nonetheless.

Play Out of Wind