Underponder

By design, one of the most cryptic games I ever played, but it does have a compelling psychological narrative if you are willing to overcome the moon logic. In the defense of the game, there are many creative and well-designed puzzles, but sometimes you are stuck for 2 hours, doing some excessive backtracking with limited visibility (assuming you can see at all). There is a section where I walked for like 20 minutes in complete darkness which should give you an idea of what kind of game it is. I completed the 'normal' difficulty around 15 hours (with no hints), and as far as I can tell the madness difficulty adds some new content. I was very close to rage quitting the game many times, but the curiosity got the better of me. It has a lot to offer in terms of psychological mechanics and how you interact with the puzzles, arguably more complex and thought-provoking than many games in the genre. Don't expect puzzle logic, the hints will guide you maybe 25% of the time, there are many 'lea...

It is incredibly surreal. The environments are dark and dreamy. The sound effects are part of the puzzles. I want there to be a little more explanation as to the mechanics *in* the game. I spent a long time running around trying to figure out the first puzzle only to find on coming back to the Steam page that I am supposed to close my eyes in game to hear sounds to solve puzzles. Going just by what is in the game, when you close your eyes, you change dream areas. Pick this up if you are into esoteric, obscure, surreal puzzle games like Myst or Riven. https://youtu.be/r64jafAdz7Q

At first I though this is a puzzle game containing many creative or challenging puzzles, but most of the time was spent on things like running and jumping that have nothing to do with puzzles. The most annoying part is the controlling mechanic. You can't change the direction and speed in the air once jump off. This become a nightmare in some levels requiring a lot of repeated, precise jumping.

Underponder is a great puzzle and platformer game, the puzzles can be quite hard at times but when you try all the mechanics this game gives you they are definatly doable, altough it is nothing for the unpatient as you have to try out alot and really need to think outside the box. When finally finishing a level though it is quite rewarding with the sense of accomplishement. The Atmosphere of the game is also amazing, from the sound to graphical choices up to the cutscenes it is a very thought through game and quite the accomplishement for being made by only one developer. Also the control and movement feels very fluent and well made. Overall a very nice game for people who like puzzels and platformers and are not deterred from trying alot of things until something works or even take a step back from the game to come back later and thinking how you didnt thought of that solution earlier. Would definetly recommend

While I really enjoyed the first few levels, encountering an aggressive enemy face-to-face midway through the game scared the hell out of me (especially since I just had the volume maxed from an audio-related puzzle.) I thought the Steam store's description of "since there are no enemies to bash around" ensured this would be a stress free Myst-like experience for me. Boy was I wrong. Aside from this, the puzzles are fantastic, don't hold your hand, and are definitely got me thinking. I would have recommended this game if it weren't for the description, which unfortunately hooked me under false expectations. Anyone hoping for a peaceful puzzle solving experience, please take this as a warning. Edit: The developer was willing to modify the description based on my review. Considering this review was based on the old description, that leaves only positive points. Modified accordingly.

Running, jumping, and headache game. Puzzles are meant to challenge and be fun. This one just hurts the head and is frustrating. The is not dream logic. I'm a lucid dreamer, and I always know the rules of what I can do, and I can change the dream to do what I want. That doesn't apply here at all. The logic used is, "How to I frustrate the gamer by putting very bad clues in easily missed places." So the game uses (sometimes bad) developer logic, don't let it fool you. Pros: Graphics alone are great, the music has good ambiance. Cons: It is just a jumping game with motion sickness involved in every move. Was on sale for ~$7 and it lives up to the price.

Well, one thing right off the bat: unless I'm missing something, the game doesn't have a save function and apparently it doesn't automatically save your progress either. I keep thinking I have to be wrong about that, somehow. It makes no sense for a game to do that; it's not a short game, you have to start from scratch every time from the look of it. If I'm wrong, someone let me know lol. *Ahem* Apart from that unfortunate oddness, the game is extremely interesting in terms of the world. This may be the most deliciously surreal environment I've experienced in a game since NaissancE. It's very well done indeed, and as others have pointed out the soundtrack is perfect as well. I love all those ambient textures and soundscapes. I'm definitely giving this another go at some point in the future but I'm going to have to wait until I have a big chunk of time available. If you like weird, eerie worlds and mind blowing space odysseys, this game is definitely for you.