[b]november 2022 edit:[/b] the game's free now but still not recommendable, of course, and I left in the info on its price history, just in case.
[b]captain backwater[/b] is a sliding game with a pirate theme and a matching element. the goal isn't to reach the exit but to bump two (sometimes more) of the same items together. not for upgrade purposes like in [b]2048[/b]-likes, but to make them disappear. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1070250/]notes[/url] is an example that comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others.
[b]100 levels[/b] unlocked one by one, and besides the sliding action there are a bunch of mechanics. arrows, dynamite and bombs to clear treasure faster, various means of changing treasure color, spikes activated after moving over them (they just block, don't cause game over), the occasional rapier to destroy any tile, etc. [b]teleporters aren't great[/b], their animation is slow and part of the puzzle is unfortunately figuring out which leads where.
[b]coins and bananas serve as very annoying collectibles.[/b] coins are invisible and appear out of nowhere as the items sashay around (if you even use the tiles hiding them) and you [b]have to mouseover each quickly before they disappear[/b]. bananas are thrown all over the screen by a monkey, appearing after matching two goblets, same collection method.
I don't mind optional challenges and annoyances, but [b]collectibles unlock levels 81-100 one by one[/b], so they're kinda mandatory. nothing wrong with a bonus level pack put behind collectibles either, but then make them puzzly, not some arcade ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. they can't be farmed by replaying the same levels, of course, but [b]level select doesn't show where you have some left[/b] either.
[b]undo is available but it counts as a move.[/b] good enough to simply solve levels, useless if you go for high scores, which are only local and meaningless anyway, [b]no par for the levels[/b], so why bother. no on-screen timer but completion time is shown on the level complete screen, along with all sorts of other stats and your score. found and missed coins and bananas would be somewhat useful info but [b]the counter is usually incorrect[/b], possibly messed up by undo, so even though [b]I kept completing levels and grabbing coins, my counter often didn't go up, so I couldn't unlock more bonus levels[/b].
[b]controls are mouse-only[/b], no hotkeys besides esc bringing up the pause menu. since you're not controlling a single entity, it's fine, but undo and reset should still have their keys.
non-widescreen graphics are the usual casual-colorful kind, stretched to fill the screen on widescreen monitors, which I'm sure were available back in 2017 as well. [b]music is surprisingly good if very repetitive, but the same annoying soundbites all over the place are incredibly grating[/b]. there are separate volume settings but not for speech, so [b]I tried replacing audio files in the install folder, but then the game didn't start[/b]. english and german languages, full screen toggle for a small non-resizable window, in-game cursor and achievements and a 'high-quality visuals' toggle that removes some unnecessary effects, so it's not too bad. [b]not being able to go back to the map from a level is less than ideal.[/b] quitting shows the high score list first, gotta close that, then click play to be able to choose another level.
[b]core gameplay would be fine, shame about the bugs, annoying speech and collectibles.[/b] there have also been [b]pricing shenanigans over the years[/b]. it was $10 on release back in 2017 both on steam and itch, then [b]went down to $1 permanently[/b] on both platforms only a year later, followed by [b]an increase to $6 in late 2021, but only on steam[/b], it's still $1 on itch and both are drm-free. very much a ♥♥♥♥ move.
what's more, they [b]essentially re-released the same game 5 years later under a different company and title[/b] ([url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1839600]pirate's gold[/url]), but without mentioning this game or the differences and similarities (meaning the same exact levels) anywhere on the store page. even more ridiculously, [b]5 years weren't enough to add a speech slider[/b], so you don't even get a better experience for double the current price of this, just some slightly different graphics. they're not denying the connection, even offering owners of backwater a free key for pirate's gold on discord, but then why not release it as backwater remastered or a simple patch? even if it's a trademark or similar issue, they should be able to mention it on the store page, like every half-assed first-person puzzler does with the witness and portal.
