They say that your brain needs exercise, just like your body. Games like 2048, Concentric Holic, or even a good escape the room game, like Gatamari Escape #22, can feel like you just made your brain run forty flights of stairs. They're the type of games that you can feel your gears grinding to figure out the solutions. But, sometimes your mind muscles need less of a brain-throbbing workout and more of a soothing yoga session. Invert Selection, by Elio Landa, is that yoga session. With its peaceful music, soft graphics, and simple, yet enjoyable, puzzles you'll feel like you've had a day at the sauna then a day at the track. The goal of this puzzle game is to highlight the goal area using the actions it gives you. Add and subtract the area, or invert what you select, to match the faded shape in the background. Each level only gives you so many actions and gives them to you in the order it wants you to follow. No chance to rebel here. Remember, it's a peaceful game.
Most of the puzzles in this game aren't much of a challenge. You just have to think a bit differently. Stepping out of that mental box is easy after the tutorial builds a door for you to escape it. There are going to be a few levels that stump you, but it's probably healthy for your ego not to breeze through them. Some of the puzzles you'll solve faster than the time it took to load it, but with fifty levels it's alright to have some be easy-peasy. Invert Selection also does a lot of hand holding. If you're willing it can be a lovely little walk to the solution. If you're not willing, try not to take offensive by how simple minded it thinks you are as it lays out the red carpet and rather drags you down to the end. The game really picks up about ten levels in and then you'll respect the undo button. The deeper you get into the game, the more your brain will have to stretch for a solution. It's still a great mind warm up that will get your gears moving and ready for the start (or middle, or end) of your day.
As pretty as all the glows and fades are, they introduce an increasingly irritating delay of about 10 unskippable seconds between levels. Now it may be that the game's trying to foster a zen-like state of calm in the player by encouraging us to pause and reflect between levels, but it's still a bit of a usability disaster.
The game insisting on staying tiny also affects usability.
It would be helpful for me if each level's final design were pictured where the smiley face is. Layers seem to be less distinct once drawing starts, and to me, the negative versus positive spaces get confusing.
Nice game, but a tremendous resource hog for what it is. My dual core processor was maxed out the entire time I played the first ten levels. Slowed everything down considerably.
Simple and fun. I enjoyed it.
But, this game use 100% of my CPU, that is strange.
I think developer made a mistake in a code.
I'd like to see this game on iOS, it reminds me of picross style games. Very enjoyable, didn't have any problems running on my PC.
I'm stuck on level 14. The game seems to be working a bit better today.
I had no problem with CPU hogging.
The main problem with the game I had was that it is close to impossible to tell the difference between a colored square that should be uncolored and an uncolored square that should be colored. The shades that are used to represent these are nearly identical.
Totally agree with the ridiculous transitions. Also, I'd rather the levels progressed to one another without a screen containing buttons available elsewhere. I was a little insulted at first, being given a tutorial AND the first 6 levels with on-screen walkthroughs, but I got over it. Aside from these minor technical quibbles, this is a little gem! The difficulties seemed a bit jumbled, but with these kinds of puzzles, organizing them in that manner is nearly impossible. I look forward to more from elanda, I'm sure the little details will improve with feedback.
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