Ratings and Reviews by Audiart

I was disappointed that this game was so short. Most of the objects and space are not interactive or usable. In fact it could have been a one-room game and been pretty much the same. At first I was enchanted by all of the rooms and exhibits to explore. But alas, these are for naught.

The most notable thing about this game is the combat system, which was easy to use but didn't add much to the game for me. If you are familiar with Veeder's other rat games you will want to play this as a light snack, but don't expect an epic.

Obviously this game was intended to be short and simple, so in that sense it delivers. There are no bugs and everything was fully implemented. The most redeeming feature was the point of view of the rat when examining our (human) culture. The game is peppered with little bits of typical Veeder wit and humor.

I wish that this game had been drawn out into a real puzzler explore-fest like some of the longer Veeder games. The setting and characters have a lot of potential. I would love to play a longer version of this game if the author chooses to develop it.

Sparkle is very replayable and small enough that the constant walking back and forth is not too tedious. The gameplay revolves around transforming objects, which is taken to the depth expected for so short a game, but really leaves me wanting more. A list of "achievements" keeps you coming back to try new ways to approach the puzzles.

The puzzles are difficult enough to produce a satisfying "eureka" feeling upon solving them, and I believe true failure is impossible. There are not a lot of suggestions in the game to lead you towards the solutions, but fortunately the answers are very intuitive and quite down-to-earth for a puzzle with a fantasy theme at its core.

Sparkle reminded me in some ways of classic Emily Short puzzles - albeit in a much condensed form. I would very much like to see the transformation mechanic and spiritual theme turned into a larger game with more emotional depth.