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Uplighter

Uplighter

Puzzle

Overview

Uplighter presents an intriguing top-down puzzle concept where you control a being of pure light, strategically positioning clones and destroying blocks to illuminate gloomy rooms. Initial feedback reveals a game with clever core mechanics hampered by significant pacing issues and technical limitations. While the light-spreading puzzles offer moments of genuine satisfaction, the experience is consistently undermined by frustrating design choices that test players' patience more than their problem-solving skills. It's a promising prototype that ultimately feels underdeveloped despite its creative premise.

Each level provides an interesting challenge... made all the more impressive by the fact it was created in just 48hours.

Gohst

Clever Light Mechanics in Confined Spaces

The core puzzle design shines through Uplighter's limitations. Positioning your light source in corridors creates focused beams that can penetrate adjacent rooms, while standing in open areas creates broader illumination patterns. This creates genuinely interesting spatial puzzles where players must strategically deploy limited clones and bombs to cover every shadowed corner. The environmental interactions—where different room layouts and passage configurations alter light behavior—show genuine ingenuity. Each level presents distinct challenges that require thoughtful placement rather than brute-force solutions, rewarding careful observation of how light interacts with architecture. The gradual introduction of mechanics through its 13 levels (including tutorials) demonstrates solid puzzle escalation, even if the overall package feels lean.

Technical Limitations That Dim the Experience

Uplighter's most consistent criticism centers on its agonizingly slow movement speed, which transforms puzzle-solving into a test of endurance. The light-being crawls across maps at a pace that makes even simple repositioning feel tedious, compounding frustration when solutions require multiple attempts. This glacial movement is exacerbated by the complete absence of a save system—players must complete levels in single sittings despite the slow pace. Combined with the brief level count, these issues create an experience where players feel their time isn't respected. The inability to save mid-level is particularly punishing given that some solutions require lengthy backtracking and repositioning sequences. These fundamental flaws overshadow the clever puzzle design, leaving players more exhausted than satisfied after sessions.

You won't have bad 'maybe I missed some nice levels' thoughts... It doesn't require much brains in my opinion. More patience than brains...

Stratubas

Verdict

Promising light puzzles dimmed by glacial pacing

STRENGTHS

45%
Puzzle Mechanics75%
Level Design65%
Concept Originality80%

WEAKNESSES

55%
Movement Speed90%
No Saving85%
Content Length70%
Pacing Issues80%

Community Reviews

2 reviews
Gohst
Gohst
Trusted

In this unique top-down puzzler, you are a being of pure light whose sole purpose in life is to illuminate. With the abilities to clone itself and to destroy certain blocks, each level provides an interesting challenge. Each level consists of several rooms separated by corridors or short passageways. Standing in the middle of a large room gives your radiated light more room (you illuminate more) and standing in a corridor reduces your light to essentially just a small beam (you illuminate less). But when standing in a corridor, your light will fill a small portion of the room on each side. It's up to you to strategically position yourself and a small allotment of secondary lights in order to fully illuminate the gloom. Each level is restricted by the different floor plan of the room and the different amount of lights/bombs you are given. Every level is completable, however, naturally some are more difficult than others. In all its a solid game with an interesting premise, made all the more impressive by the fact it was created in just 48hours. A recommended download for puzzlers.

Stratubas
Stratubas
Trusted

It's a nice puzzle game. Quite simple but enjoyable for an hour or so. There are two major bad things about it that can't get it a better rating from me. First, it is too slow, i mean, rrrrrrreally slow. That "illuminator" thing you're controlling moves annoyingly slowly. Second, you can't save the game! Combined with the slow gameplay, no saving is awful. There are only 13 levels including the tutorials, so all you can do with this game is try it if you like puzzle games, play some levels until you've had enough, then delete it and hate it for taking so much time to offer so little things. (You can check the maps - they're just ".tga" pictures, so you won't have bad "maybe I missed some nice levels" thoughts) It doesn't require much brains in my opinion. More patience than brains...

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