This series is intended to highlight some of the free games that I enjoy and would recommend. Specifically, the focus will be on games that are permanently free (not free-to-play with microtransactions and not temporarily free) and that are available through the likes of Steam, Itch.io, GOG, or Epic Games. Any recommendations of such games are welcome as well!
Game: 20 Small Mazes
Release Date: February 16, 2024
Developer: FLEB
Genre: Puzzle
Length: ~ 1 hour
Content Warning(s): None
Recommended by: Jarathen
I will admit, before I started playing 20 Small Mazes I worried that a game consisting of just solving mazes wouldn’t be able to hold my interest. I’ve never been the biggest fan of mazes in video games, probably because I can be a bit of an impatient gamer. A single level containing a maze? That I can at least handle. An entire game of them? That’s less certain. Luckily 20 Small Mazes has a lot more going for it than I originally expected.
The first thing you see upon starting 20 Small Mazes is what looks like a computer desktop littered with overlapping windows, each containing a maze. These mazes can be moved around and completed at will, allowing you to finish them in any order. It’s a fun way to present them and I like the level of control that it gives the player. Having issues solving one maze? Set it aside and try a different one. Some of the mazes even play with this format, requiring you to hunt for ‘windows’ containing, say, a password, a treasure map, or a specific object in order to solve it. Despite the large number of mazes on display at once, the game’s simple art style helps to keep the screen from feeling too cluttered.
As implied in the previous paragraph, a big feature of the game is its creativity. Each maze has its own rules, obstacles, gimmicks, and goals. In one, you can use a bulldozer to break down up to four walls. In another, you have to make use of gravity and rotate the maze’s window to progress. There’s even one where you have to guide a dot through a labyrinth hand-drawn in crayon by a six-year-old kid. The sheer number of mechanics and ideas on display is delightful and charming. None of the puzzles are terribly difficult, but they do make you think enough that it still feels like a victory when you solve one.
If you like puzzle games, I would definitely recommend giving this one a try.
Next time I will likely be covering the visual novel That Which Faith Demands (recommended by Bloomed Wings), and potentially one other game.
Images courtesy of the games’ Steam and Itch.io pages and Buried Treasure.
You must be logged in to post a comment.