Understand
- October 30, 2020
- Artless Games
- 35h median play time
Get on Steam"Understand" is a single-player adventure puzzle game with unique level-specific rules and experimental mechanics. Players must figure out the meaning of each rule through trial and error and draw lines to satisfy all rules in over 100 language-independent levels. The game boasts "think outside the box" puzzles, terrible artwork, and an unexplored puzzle genre, encouraging players to join their Discord community at .
Mac OS
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game exercises creative and logical thinking, providing a unique and satisfying puzzle-solving experience.
- Each level has different rules that require experimentation and deduction, leading to rewarding 'aha!' moments.
- The minimalist design and low price make it accessible, while the challenging puzzles keep players engaged for hours.
- The rules can be overly complex and obscure, leading to frustration and reliance on trial and error rather than logical deduction.
- Some levels feel tedious and unbalanced, with certain puzzles being solvable only through brute force rather than understanding.
- The lack of clear guidance on rules can make it difficult for players to progress, resulting in confusion and potential disengagement.
- gameplay80 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this puzzle game is characterized by a mix of enjoyable puzzle-solving and tedious mechanics discovery, with players often needing to guess the rules behind each puzzle. While the game features a vast number of levels and unique mechanics that can lead to satisfying "aha!" moments, the execution can feel repetitive and frustrating due to the lack of intuitive guidance in understanding these mechanics. Overall, it offers a substantial playtime of 15-20 hours for those who appreciate deep exploration of puzzle mechanics, but may not appeal to everyone due to its reliance on trial and error.
“A solid insight puzzle game featuring 143 levels, each with unique mechanics you need to figure out through experimentation.”
“In something like The Witness, you'll only get the satisfaction of figuring out a puzzle mechanic once per puzzle type, and you'll spend the rest of your time trying to implement the established rules; in this game, you get to experience the joy of figuring out the rules over and over again, often in rapid succession.”
“It's got lots of puzzles to solve, and you aren't stuck on levels in a linear fashion, so you can hop between mechanics if you get stumped.”
“The puzzle-solving part is fun, but the problem lies with finding out the mechanics.”
“Every puzzle pack gives you a few example levels first that you are supposed to use to find out the mechanic - but that just doesn't work very well as most of these example levels are too small to really extract any specific mechanic from them.”
“Neither the concept of figuring out sequences nor the game's mechanics were bad ideas, but when they combine, the result is boring guess-and-check busywork.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight a mixed experience with grinding in the game; while some players find the puzzle mechanics engaging and mentally stimulating, others criticize the execution as tedious and frustrating, particularly when it devolves into trial and error. The reliance on audio cues in later stages can exacerbate this tedium for those unable to hear them, leading to random guessing. Overall, the game is seen as a balance between enjoyable puzzle-solving and moments of excessive grind.
“The difficulty is in the thinking you have to do, not in spending a long time entering a solution to see if it works, so it is mentally taxing but not tedious.”
“The concept of the game is awesome, and the mechanics are cool, but the execution is just way too tedious for me.”
“If you can stomach opening a walkthrough a lot of times to avoid bashing your head into a wall, then you can have some fun with the actual puzzle solving part of the game (which, again, is mostly fun and a good balance of difficult and approachable), but I will still give the game a downvote for the other part of the game being often very tedious, if not outright frustrating.”
“My only problem is the last stages are based on audio cues, meaning if you are not able to listen to it for any reason, it becomes tedious, complete random guessing with no help whatsoever.”
- graphics12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are characterized by a crisp, clean, and minimalist aesthetic that enhances the overall experience. While some may perceive the art style as simplistic, it is evident that significant care and attention have been devoted to the design of each puzzle, proving that engaging gameplay can thrive without elaborate visuals. Overall, the graphics effectively support the game's focus on pure gameplay rather than narrative.
“Crisp clean graphics.”
“The minimalist aesthetic really works in the game's favor.”
“Cool story, stunning graphics, great soundtrack.”
“As you can tell from screenshots, this is very much a developer-graphics, pure-gameplay, no-story kind of game.”
- story10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's story is minimal and largely absent, focusing instead on gameplay mechanics and visual aesthetics. Players experience a satisfying arc of discovery and experimentation, akin to solving complex puzzles, rather than following a traditional narrative. Overall, the emphasis is on gameplay rather than storytelling, which some players find refreshing while others may feel a lack of depth.
“Cool story, stunning graphics, great soundtrack, irreversible brain damage.”
“As you can tell from screenshots, this is very much a developer-graphics, pure-gameplay, no-story kind of game.”
“This is a great game that puts one in mind of The Witness (minus story), but also Zendo and Bongard problems.”
“The story of your gameplay is, instead, a surprisingly satisfying repeated arc, in each set of levels, of working out what the heck is going on, fine-tuning that understanding through experimentation, and using that refined understanding to make often-difficult, frequently-pleasing puzzles at the end.”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed feedback; while some players appreciate the soundtrack, others find it distracting and prefer to turn it off to maintain focus during challenging puzzles. The repetitive nature of the tracks can lead to frustration, overshadowing the otherwise impressive story and graphics.
“Cool story, stunning graphics, great soundtrack.”
“I personally turned off all audio for this game besides sound effects because I found that this is one of those cerebral games that requires a ton of focus, and having the music on can easily distract you when solving the puzzles.”
“I lost count of how many solutions I looked up while replaying the same three songs over and over again.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its clever and surprising humor, with players noting that creative gimmicks often lead to genuine laughter. A standout moment is the stage "1-?", which particularly resonated with players and contributed to the game's overall charm.
“This game is difficult, fun, and has a good sense of humor.”
“All of these had very surprising and creative gimmicks; several of them made me laugh out loud once I figured out what was going on.”
“This game deserves a recommendation just because of the stage '1-?' that made me laugh.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a strong emotional investment in the game, highlighting its ability to challenge their thinking and evoke feelings of frustration and accomplishment. The clever design fosters a sense of cleverness and satisfaction, contributing to a wholesome gaming experience that resonates deeply with users.
“One who, prior to this, had marathoned over a dozen single-achievement puzzle games by the strength of my anxiety-ridden brain, and I was determined not to quit a game I was so emotionally invested in, even when it frustrated me, because it made me realize the limits of my own thinking.”
“I really love games like this, and so far this one has been very clever indeed, and made me feel clever too.”
“Wholesome game :>”
- optimization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, optimization is mostly satisfactory, but a few complex levels exhibit significant performance issues, leading to lag spikes during validation under certain configurations.
“Performance is generally not an issue for obvious reasons, but about 3 levels are complicated enough (or badly optimized enough) where certain configurations can cause seconds-long lag spikes during validation.”
