Name: Account Mu

Developer: CashmereCat

Story: I'm not entirely sure there is a story. You're certainly being guided by, I suppose you could call it a consciousness. To ascribe a trait to this consciousness, I suppose I would call it "pensive". This consciousness certainly has something it intends to tell you in good time, but beyond that, I don't really see a story.

Graphics: Non-RTP. Minimalist, mostly monochromatic with a minor exception; there are reddish/pinkish pill capsules to take. Images are line drawings, black on white, with some cubist influence. The character you play is an androgynous shadow that could be male or female.

Gameplay: Addictive. You journey through this cubist line drawing and have to solve walking and item positioning puzzles. The difficulty of these puzzles ranges from simple to moderate difficulty. There's nothing mathematically challenging in any of the puzzles, however there is a misdirect and confuse factor in the hardest puzzles that can make them frustrating. That said, there's nothing here that is particularly challenging. Ominously, however at the end of the demo, the Consciousness tells you that these were just the basics, and they're just here to make sure you're up to the real game. Perhaps, there will be harder puzzles to come in the full version. Each puzzle has numbered steps. Think of them as puzzles within the puzzle. Each room you enter has one or two numbered blocks obstructing the exit. On the floor are circles labeled 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, or 1-5 (The first puzzle doesn't seem like a puzzle. It's just a block obstructing your path and a switch on the floor that gets it out of the way; clearly, it's only purpose is to inform the player of the fundamental game mechanic.). Upon discovering one through three, it's apparent that each section has an optional hard puzzle. On the floor are circled numbers. These are transfers that take you to corresponding sections of the puzzle. You can work the puzzle, reset the puzzle, or go back to attempt another of the puzzles in the room, but you can't advance until you've solved the puzzles that remove the obstructing blocks.

The more advanced puzzles, while not too difficult, are just hard enough to induce a headache. This speaks well of the games ability to regulate difficulty and promises much harder puzzles in the final version of the game. People have complained in the past that objectives in the game aren't clear. For example, Indrah has a let's play in which we see her stuck on the first real puzzle of the game. She's solved the two simpler puzzles, and has cleared the way to advance, but for some reason, she thinks she needs to solve 3 in order to move on. I personally didn't have a problem here, but it's worth pointing out. To be fair, while the obstructions are clearly gone from the main path, there's nothing to indicate that the side puzzles aren't necessary to advancement. As a matter of fact, you can't finish the demo without solving all puzzles, so even if you choose to move along, you will eventually have to come back to these difficult ones.

Conclusion: The game is well executed. Its minimalist, monochrome, and sterile setting compliments the game, which is dedicated to logic and problem solving. The background music, is an atonal, atmospheric piece that puts one in mind of limbo. In fact, the whole game feels like you've found yourself in purgatory. It's hard to say that the game is fun. Is Sudoku fun? Is chess fun? Is a crossword fun? It's challenging, imaginative, enigmatic, and thought-provoking. It can also be called educational and intellectually stimulating. All of these things taken together can be fun in a way. If this were the finished product, I'd rate it at four stars.