Snakebird Complete: A Puzzle Game Done Right

I love to collect free games from the Epic Store. They gave away some nice games in the past, including GTA V, Death Stranding, The Outer Worlds, etc. But most of these free games you get are not the best, but they are still free. I add all of them to my library even if I hate the genre or didn't like the initial presentation. You never know when you want to play that game?

A few days ago, I was looking at my library to see which game I could pick up that wouldn't take a lifetime to finish. That's when I saw the Snakebird Complete game.

Snakebird is a puzzle game developed by Noumenon Games where the player controls a snake-like bird through many challenging spatial puzzles where you can eat fruit to make your snake longer and somehow able to manage to reach the exit.

On the surface, it sounds like a generic puzzler, but you will quickly realize that sometimes simple mechanics can lead to very difficult challenges.

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The Snakebird Complete comprises two games packed into a single title, the classic Snakebird and Snakebird Primer. Each with hundreds of unique and challenging levels.

These birds have certain length and can just go forward, up and down. The main challenge is to not let them die and successfully eat all the fruits (if there are any) and get to the exit. There are multiple levels with more than one bird and they can use each other to solve these puzzles.

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You will be constantly twisting and turning, trying to balance one over the other while keeping the length of the bird in mind. You are going to use that undo button a lot of times and many times it would be just better to smash that reset button.

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Many times, when entering a new level, you might think it is so simple, but when you start playing, you get it why it isn't that straight forward. The most difficulty with are the ones involving multiple birds of varying length. However, I loved those which had these small boxes that can help you reach the exit.

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One thing that everyone is going to hate is spikes. They add to the difficulty a lot. Of the first 50 or so levels, 4-5 seemed almost impossible. I didn't see the hint feature till then, but once you realise there are hints, you tend to use them, and then it gets easy. But not every level has hints, I am not sure how these hints work. I thought the hints appear only after you have spent a good chunk of your time solving a specific puzzle, or perhaps after you clear some number of levels?

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There were around 70 levels in the first island (Snake Bird Primer), and once you complete those normal levels, a special level with a mysterious black hole will appear in the middle of the map. This takes you to an interesting location for the final level of this game. This was worthy of being the final level. But eventually, with a hint, I was able to complete it.

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A Puzzle Game Done Right

What I think is a great puzzle game is because of how well it introduces you to all the mechanics. Even though the tutorial is practically none. You learn all about it while playing new levels. The game puts you in situations where you have only one option at the start, and this helps you teach the basics well. To be able to have a lot of concepts like movable blocks, multiple birds, spikes, teleportation, etc, all in about 70ish levels is not easy. Nobody likes an hour-long tutorial anyway. That learning curve is impressive for sure.

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The simplicity of the mechanics, like eating fruits to growing bigger and getting to the exit, can look really shallow but the game hides its complexities really well. You will only realize the problems once you start playing. It all makes sense in your head but when you start trying, you realize how deep and complex these puzzles can get.

If you think that people love to solve puzzles because of the satisfaction it gives them. The way a puzzle can make you feel smart once you solve it. It is not easy to pull off, and this game does it well.

And last but not least, it's a simple design and amazing colorful graphics. It is so pleasing to look at, no extra clutter and fillers added to distract you. It is just simple graphics and fluid mechanics, and a satisfying soundtrack.

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All of the above factors come together to make a game that impressed me a lot. I was expecting it to be okay, but it proved me wrong, and I enjoyed every moment of solving these puzzles. Highly recommended for anyone looking to play a simple and challenging puzzler.