Squingle

I wasn't sure what to expect from this game, but I was lucky enough to get a free copy of it from the developer. The game definitely feels inspired by a pharmaceutical journey, but is actually a pretty nifty puzzle game in the realm of those old school hoops around a wire that you used to see in fairs with a twist that the "hoop" is spinning and you have to move it along the path as it spins to avoid "bursting your colon" for lack of a better term. The music and visuals are very relaxing, but the colors do get a bit intense after playing for a while. After taking my headset off, my eyes feel a bit like they had a work out. The puzzles are a bit confusing at first as you just get thrown in. What are the two colors spinning, what do the little dots do, what do the globs do, what does the other glob do. After playing for a dozen levels or so, I was able to figure it out mostly. The colors of the rotating balls are meaningless except to help you distinguish rotation. The green dots are just optional challenges, like getting 3 stars in angry birds level. Some blobs are checkpoints, the other is the exit, though it's a bit hard to tell the difference. The gameplay is pretty good, though there is some hiccups when you grab the ball to start moving it (might be caused by Virtual Desktop though). I wish you could freely rotate the world space in all directions, but it just spins and translates. It can be a bit hard to see where you are in 3d space (due to the previously mentioned bright colors). This is ok for the most part since you can just let go in a safe area and rotate a bit, but when you are going through a complex stretch it can cause some frustration. I haven't checked yet, but maybe there are some options to change opacity, if not, that would be a good addition. The last thing I'd mention is prepare for your arms to get tired. Everything from menus and navigation requires you to be reaching out in front of you the whole time and I could see it starting to get tiring after a bit, but is fine for shorter stints, which this game is good for. All and all I'd say it's worth the price if you want to experience some unique visuals and a cute little puzzler that is reminiscent of early experiments in VR like with the dev that made BLARP

Disclosure product key received for free. Developers were kind enough to give away copies to players who tested the beta and provided feedback before it launched. This in no way influences my opinion. Listed play time is not accurate. Review: *Just all round excellent game with solid/fun gameplay mechanics. *Lovely dazzling, chill ambient soothing visuals and setting. *Controls feels smooth, responsive and intuitive. * Interesting and unique design concept makes navigating a puzzle utilising VR really stand out and shine.

I recommend if you enjoyed things like Tetris, Last Clockwinder, etc.

This game has amazing game design shown in it, lessons are taught through demonstration and are incremental in adding complexity. It feels like playing Portal 1 for the first time and realizing how each level until the end really drives home a game mechanic. I play using the OG HTC VIVE, and knuckles. Right now you can only grab the squingle with the left trigger, but hopefully this is changed in the future. I really appreciate that this game exists, thank you Ben!

This kind of game is the reason why VR exists. It's a simple action puzzle game at its core, but it knows what makes VR great and takes advantage of the VR space exceptionally well. Puzzles flow as they make use of your sense of 3D intuition and the gameplay just makes sense. The level design is ingenious and pushes the main concept as far as it will go, while still being fair. That being said, there are some real spicy levels near the end that caused quite a bit of frustration. The obstacle orbs also weren't fun to navigate in my opinion, I found myself dreading levels with many obstacles, and I didn't think the obstacles were what the game is really about. Thankfully the game seems to agree on that point and doesn't do it too much [spoiler]and also made the last 2 levels pure movement challenges without obstacles[/spoiler] so it didn't leave a sour taste at the end. Speaking of knowing what makes VR great, the psychedelic visuals are just excellent, and everything that I want in VR. It seems silly and boring that VR offers so many possibilities and other developers just choose to make things that already exist in real life. So I massively love and appreciate these visuals. This game is VR at its best.

This is a puzzle game that stands out in its uniqueness, truly leveraging the capabilities of VR. It’s hard to put into words, but it has mechanics reminiscent of Kuru Kuru Kururin, with the twist of manoeuvring into a 3D worm-like bubble. It’s a prime pick for casual VR gaming, featuring an eye-catching psychedelic design and a calming, beautifully composed soundtrack. The puzzles start off easy and progressively get more complex, adding more sophisticated mechanics and puzzles to keep the game engaging and challenging. If you struggle with a level too much, help is provided to keep the gaming experience enjoyable and frustration-free.https://store.steampowered.com/app/1439040/Squingle/#

Squingle turns the most boring VR game mechanics - following a path with motion controller - into psychedelic audio-visual journey with satisfying gameplay and tons of replayability. You control two spiraling spheres instead of one object, and this alone turns mind-numbing activity of patiently following a path into an actual challenge and even into a puzzle on some of more intricate levels. Gameplay is very polished and smooth, every interaction has satisfying feedback with color and/or sound effect. There is a lot replayability, thanks to non-linear level structure, speed running and optional challenges of getting collectables. Works on Reverb G2