Puzzle games are always a tricky one for me to write about. I have a really hard time empathizing with how tricky someone else will find different types of puzzles. That can make it hard to communicate exactly why a particular Puzzle game did or did not work for me.

Just as an example, my friends Charlie and Thomas are both very logical thinkers, and can juggle a bunch of abstract information in their minds. As a result, they find a lot of Puzzle games far too simple. There’ve been very few instances over the years where I’ve recommended a Puzzle game to either of them, and had them come back saying they actually enjoyed it. Instead, I usually get hit with, “It was neat, but a little too simple.”

So…you know…that doesn’t exactly make me very confident in my abilities to recommend Puzzle games.

That said, I finished a demo for The Art of Reflection earlier this week, and I had to talk about it. Mostly because it is super cool.

As always, I’ll start Demo Dive with a brief overview of The Art of Reflection, though I think the attached trailer does a fairly good job of showcasing what the game is all about.

The Art of Reflection is a First-Person Puzzle game with realistically simulated mirrors. Also, you can enter the mirrors. This is the foundation from which The Art of Reflection builds all of its puzzles.

As a quick example of exactly what that entails, 1 of the first puzzles that players are asked to solve in the demo involves a locked door, and a key. Unfortunately, the door requires a mirrored version of the key that you’re provided with. Luckily, you can pop through a mirror, grab a mirrored version of the key, and return to the original door which you’ll now be able to open.

Editor’s notes: I only realized after the fact that this is the first puzzle in the trailer, and now feel like a doofus for using it as an example. Still – you get the idea!

That’s a fairly basic puzzle, but that should give you an idea of what The Art of Reflection has going on. It’s puzzles built around reflection, and perspective.

Admittedly, I was a little dubious about how much mileage the developers Hydrozoa could get out of that idea, but the demo did a lot to assuage my concerns. Every new room I entered either presented a completely new idea, or meaningfully built upon a previous puzzle. That gave the whole demo a great sense of momentum, and also made the whole thing very satisfying to unravel.

Though, I do have to call out my favourite moment from the demo, so skip this paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled. The first time I entered a mirror on the ceiling, and inverted gravity was so cool. I was not expecting that at all, but playing around with gravity by flipping the entire world upside down was a really neat twist on the game’s core mechanics.

I also got the sense that I missed a few different puzzles throughout the demo. There were these collectible pillars that you were awarded for completing several consecutive rooms. Each one seemed to increase the amount of music playing for all of the levels attached to a particular hub. I figured that the demo didn’t contain all of the levels, specifically so the developers could showcase the breadth of ideas that they had, but the message at the end of the demo makes me think that I just missed several puzzles that were hidden off the beaten path.

If that’s the case, that’s also really neat. I’m always a fan of Puzzle games hiding additional puzzles behind these sorts of challenges. It’s a bit of a twist on simply solving a level to unlock the next since you need to work out exactly where the hidden thing is in the first place. That’s a commitment to puzzle solving that I can appreciate in a Puzzle game.

And if you miss those hidden levels, it’s not really a big deal? Most Puzzle games are satisfying to solve irrespective of whether or not you completed all of their most tricky conundrums. Hell, most players won’t even notice that they’ve missed anything unless you tell them. My experience is proof positive of that.

Regardless, I think The Art of Reflection looks very promising. The demo has certainly wet my appetite for the full game, which releases on November 24th.

If you would like to try The Art of Reflection for yourself, there is a demo currently available on Steam. And don’t forget to wishlist the game if you enjoyed it.

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