Enigmart

Originally written on the intfiction forums.

I first attempted to play this game weeks earlier - on a commute, using my phone, and on spotty public WiFi. Definitely not the ideal conditions. I spent an embarrassing long amount of time stuck on the very first puzzle. Then, when I finally figured it out, I clicked into a few of the other puzzles to find out that some were dependent on pictures that didn’t load, or were laid out in a way where I would need pen and paper to solve. I ran away screaming closed the browser tab and made a note to myself to save this for last, so I could devote brain space to it without putting the game down and moving on to another Spring Thing entry.

I started off with the fill-in-the-blanks and the association puzzles (sandwich cookies and oatmeal variety pack), the ones I found the simplest to get started on. For most of the others I had to use the provided hints for just to get my mind on the right track. Figuring out (Spoiler - click to show)the hair dye and icing puzzles gave me the feeling of accomplishment as equal as completing a short comp game. I made it through about twenty puzzles before the remaining ones frustrated me enough to look up the answer.

In between solving puzzles there is also a story going on. Initially, it seems to be a shopping trip turned app testing stint. Then (Spoiler - click to show)it takes a turn for some themes that are very relevant to what’s going on with corporations and needless changes to processes that everyone has been satisfied with for years. This is going to sound strange from this puzzle-averse mole, but I don’t know if I necessarily needed the frame story. Enigmart’s plot made a lot of good points (Spoiler - click to show)about how corporations consume everything we love like a leech, but it could’ve worked fine as a pure collection of themed puzzles.

I was definitely not the target audience for Enigmart, but after giving it a chance I liked it! The problems felt fair, were well-implemented, and I had fun solving them once I got past the first one. If you really hate puzzles, this game won’t change your mind, and if you’re a puzzle fiend, you’ve probably already jumped on this game already. But if you’re open to being convinced and are ok with being stuck for forty minutes on assigning True/False to cryptic statements, get your thinking caps and writing materials ready - you’ll need them.