The Trials

About

The Trials is a single player open world puzzle game. It was developed by BLUE LIFE and was released on October 1, 2021. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Use three challenging skills including moving between worlds, teleporting and time manipulation to discover seven main areas in The Trials island and solve over 30 side puzzles to collect gemstone to unlock new areas on the island.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

100%

Audience ScoreBased on 40 reviews

gameplay4 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game features a wide variety of challenging and inventive puzzles that require creative problem-solving skills.
The graphics are beautiful, and the open-world environment is inviting, enhancing the overall experience.
The developer has shown a commitment to improving the game based on player feedback, making it a rewarding experience for puzzle enthusiasts.

Some puzzles lack clear instructions, which can lead to frustration and confusion for players trying to progress.
The collection of gems can feel excessive and tedious, with some being difficult to reach or locate.
There are minor performance issues and a lack of visual polish in some mechanics, which detracts from the overall experience.

gameplay
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The gameplay features a diverse range of mechanics that are both inventive and intuitive, particularly the unique recording mechanic that adds depth to traditional first-person puzzle elements. While the game encourages players to discover mechanics on their own, this approach can lead to mixed experiences across different puzzles. Some early open-world puzzles feel less engaging as they don't utilize the core mechanics, but recent updates have improved the overall experience by streamlining controls and adjusting puzzle difficulty.
- “There's some great variety to the mechanics, a lot of which surprised me with their depth and inventiveness.”
- “The recording mechanic feels like a very good twist on the usual cubes in a first-person puzzle game.”
- “The three mechanics: time recording (only for boxes though), swapping platform locations, and teleporting to spots are very intuitive and make for challenging puzzles.”
- “It does the same thing as The Witness where it doesn't explicitly explain a lot of mechanics and you have to intuit them yourself, and that works better in some puzzles than others.”
- “My problem with the game are the early open world puzzles that don't require a mechanic yet, more namely the block push puzzles.”
- “Since the initial release, they have streamlined the jumping mechanics, simplified some of the trickier puzzles, and lengthened the record timeline.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
38%
The game lacks a significant narrative, focusing primarily on puzzles rather than story development. It appeals to puzzle enthusiasts who prioritize gameplay over storytelling, reminiscent of titles like "The Witness" and "The Talos Principle" but without the narrative depth. Players seeking to complete all challenges should be ready for extensive exploration and skillful navigation.
- “No fanfare or story, you're here for the puzzles.”
- “If you have been longing for The Witness and Talos Principle (sans the story) to have a child, now you are on to something.”
- “If you're a big fan of puzzle games and don't care about the lack of story, this is a great game, especially for the price.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Overall, users report experiencing mild performance issues, indicating that while the game is generally playable, there are some minor optimization concerns that could affect the experience.
- “I experienced some mild performance issues.”
- “I encountered some minor performance problems.”
- “There were occasional slight performance hiccups.”
graphics
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The graphics are consistently praised as absolutely beautiful, highlighting their impressive visual quality.
- “Graphics are absolutely beautiful.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game enhances the inviting atmosphere of the open world, featuring pleasant sounds and background tracks that contribute to an immersive experience.
- “The open world is inviting with nice sounds and background music.”