I grew up playing Zelda games, so I'm all about titles that set me tough challenges and puzzles to solve. I played the Professor Layton games over and over on the DS, and threw myself into challenging handheld titles that helped to keep my thinking sharp. It's why I'm such a fan of Dragonyhm; puzzles and riddles in games make the gameplay so much more immersive, and that's exactly why I'm loving playing through Black Tower Enigma.
How does a puzzle-solving game based on an Orc trying to save his wife sound to you? That's the premise of Black Tower Enigma, a game where you take Wigo the Orc on a challenge-ridden quest to discover why his wife has been kidnapped, all because she put on a magic dress that a fairy gave her. Wigo sets out to climb the tallest tower in the area and must solve every problem put in his path as he ascends the Black Tower Enigma.
The game comes to us from Mexico-based indie studio Ogre Pixel and is beautifully crafted. The cutscenes are amazing, as is the colour palette of the game and the 8-bit orchestral soundtrack that accompanies it. It takes me straight back to the 00s and playing GBC games as a ten-year-old kid, which is exactly what I want from a new Game Boy Color game like this.
Even getting to the Black Tower Enigma proves puzzling, with players having to work out how to open the door to the main game in the first place. Wigo's movements are very nostalgic of games of the era, and the NPCs you interact with on the way provide a great addition to the narrative to keep you fully immersed.
It won't surprise you to know that I'm a prolific reader, and the fact that you can pick up more about the backstory and narrative of the game through books scattered in each puzzle room as you make your way up the tower is a really nice touch.
Black Tower Enigma is now available to buy on Itch.io after a successful Kickstarter campaign, which you can still back if you would like to get a physical version of the game. It costs $5 to download from Itch.io to play on your chosen emulator or your Analogue Pocket, or you can play in your browser!
A sign of a good game is one I can't put down, and it's taken me ages to write this article because I don't want to stop playing. If that's not a seal of approval, then I don't know what is!
