Puzzle games sit in a very awkward paradigm for me. I tend to enjoy playing them, but I don’t necessarily enjoy completing them. That’s usually because I find them too difficult to play after a certain point. The reverse is also true with some puzzle games having so little complexity that they sink into tedium once the initial novelty wears off. In either case, I don’t really want to finish the game. Frustration, and tedium aren’t exactly the emotions I’m looking to evoke while playing video games after all.

It’s for this very reason that I’ve almost never reviewed, and subsequently recommended a puzzle game. I’m aware that isn’t a particularly good reason to ignore an entire genre of video games, but I’ve never felt particularly well equipped to meaningfully talk about puzzle games. It takes a special sort of someone to run around shouting their fool head off about a subject they have no knowledge in, regardless of how often politicians do it.

That silence ends today however, as I played a game over the weekend that I feel compelled to write about. Behold: 20 Small Mazes.

20 Small Mazes is exactly what the title implies: it’s a game about solving 20 relatively short mazes. Each has their own simple mechanic, which provides an additional wrinkle to the process of solving said maze. For example, one of the first mazes folds in on itself meaning players are effectively navigating 2 different sets of maze layouts as they work towards the exit.

The straightforward design of 20 Small Mazes reminds me a lot of daily puzzle mobile games. You’re given a relatively simple prompt, think on it for a couple seconds, and then solve the puzzle. This is followed by a shot of dopamine, not just because you solved the puzzle, but because you actually had to use your brain. And thinking feels good.

It’s also worth noting that the comparison to daily puzzle games goes a bit deeper because 20 Small Mazes is also free. That feels like the perfect price for it, and also doesn’t provide anyone reading this article with an excuse to not play it. What would you rather do? Spend an hour mindlessly scrolling through social media, or solving some delightful puzzley mazes? I think the answer is obvious.

More importantly than any of that though, 20 Small Mazes is the kind of passion project game that reminded me why I wanted to write about games in the first place. It’s sometimes hard to remember that there are a slew of small games out there that just want to be fun, one time experiences. I know that all may sound pretentious, but with headlines, and my own gaming time frequently being dominated by games that you’re never meant to stop playing, 20 Small Mazes was a breath of fresh air. If you, like myself, have found yourself weighed down by evergreen, time vampire games then give 20 Small Mazes a look. It’s free, it’s fun, and you may just find it to be the creative jolt that your soul’s craving.

So yeah. I recommend 20 Small Mazes. Go play it.

Seriously, what are you still doing here? Go play 20 Small Mazes. Trust me. You’ll enjoy it.