<\/p>\n

Sloshing liquid around has lately become as popular a videogame pastime as blasting zombies or downloading Call of Duty<\/em> DLC. Controlling the slippery physics of H20 (and other stuff) factors into everything from Mercury<\/em> and Fluidity<\/em> to Where\u2019s My Water?<\/em> and Feed Me Oil<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Add Puddle<\/em> to the growing pool of liquid-based physics puzzlers. It\u2019s one of those GDC student showcase winners that spun its success with the judges into a commercial product. It doesn\u2019t take long to understand why. Puddle<\/em>\u2019s mix of shadowy, neon visuals and scientific principles mix as easily as a packet of Berry Blue-flavored Kool-Aid dissolves into a pitcher of cold agua.<\/p>\n

You can probably guess the drill: In each level, you\u2019re charged with guiding some kind of liquid substance from Point A to Point B. The control scheme couldn\u2019t be more minimalist. You use the right and left flipper buttons (or a PlayStation Move controller) to tilt the environment, causing whatever liquid you\u2019re rocking\u2014sometimes water, sometimes liquid fertilizer, sometimes nitro glycerin or molten lava\u2014to slither through a range of bedeviling environments\u2014sometimes a garden, sometimes the human body, sometimes tubes and pipes. Hazards naturally abound, from flames that evaporate precious water droplets to glowing, malevolent Venus flytraps that snap and turn your neon-yellow fertilizer into black sludge. Navigating the maze requires maintaining a certain amount of fluid to open hatches, flip switches and avoiding failing the level, so each drop becomes precious as the level tilts onward. <\/p>\n

Beyond the earliest puzzles, it\u2019s rare to succeed on your first try, because the camera unfairly conceals upcoming obstacles and hazards until your liquid stream is hurtling wildly down a slope or around a curve, and you\u2019ve accumulated way too much momentum to do anything but crash and start over. Always proceeding slowly is no good either, as you\u2019ll need enough speed to jump gaps and slither across flaming sections unscathed (or, more accurately, unevaporated.) Yes, science is supposed to be about trial and error–and there\u2019s a palpable sense of accomplishment when you\u2019ve navigated a liquid blob through a huge electrical field in zero gravity conditions– but there\u2019s several feet of liquid frustration to wade through in order to get there. <\/p>\n

Some of the puzzles are almost sadistically devious–for instance, the one that ends the first section, in which you\u2019re expected to roll water up both sides of an enclosed container to activate a pair of switches, then roll the water up the wall again to flip droplets through the air and into a newly opened narrow escape tube in the middle, all before a timer resets the whole thing. Did I mention that the sides of the escape tube are lined with flame? <\/p>\n

Okay, so it\u2019s hard. Often brutally hard. Puddle<\/em> tosses players a bone in these situations by offering them two \u201cwhines\u201d\u2014i.e. chances to skip a level and move to the next one. But when you fail a level after using them up, the game instructs you to \u201cgo back and finish a level you skipped, so you can snivel some more.\u201d Call me thin-skinned, but in an otherwise immersive game that features an absolute bare minimum of communication, a touch like this comes off as smug, snooty and condescending. Of course, the student developers attended the French school ENJMIN, so perhaps that explains it. \/cultural stereotype off\/<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a minor annoyance, yes, but try to imagine if a game like Limbo<\/em> or Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet<\/em>, two examples of quiet indie games that share pieces of Puddle<\/em>\u2019s shadow-based visual aesthetic, had suddenly flashed the words \u201cYou\u2019re an Idiot\u201d on the screen after your second or third untimely death. Basically, a low-grade design decision ends up tainting what could have been an entirely sweet drink of puzzle-based gaming. It\u2019s not a deal-breaker, but it definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pros:<\/strong>
\n+ Wildly creative and diverse environments always keep things fresh
\n+ Water-based physics really is fun<\/p>\n

Cons:<\/strong>
\n– The game’s camera is often your biggest obstacle
\n– Condescending undertone taints the proceedings<\/p>\n

Game Info:<\/strong>
\nPlatform: Reviewed on Xbox 360 via XBLA; also available for PS3 via PSN
\nPublisher: Konami
\nDeveloper: Neko Entertainment
\nRelease Date: XBLA – 1\/25\/2012; PSN – 1\/31\/2012
\nGenre: Puzzle
\nESRB Rating: Teen
\nPlayers: 1
\nSource: Review code provided by publisher<\/p>\n