Terra Nil Review (AudibleHourglass)
This is a satisfying and calm puzzle game. While I enjoyed my playthrough, I can't recommend the game to others for a few reasons. The primary gripe I have with this game is how fiddly and unintuitive some of the features are. Once you know how systems interact, you can build a better plan to avoid these strange interactions, but if you are playing a zone for the first time you have no way of knowing what is coming. Certain systems seem to follow unstated rules which must be learned through trial and error. A more up-front guide to what is expected and what is coming might make this a puzzle game I would recommend. For now, the “satisfying” element is the strongest draw for me, and the kind of person I know who would like a game for that quality alone would not enjoy the fiddly trial-and-error nature of getting the various systems to work how you would expect them to work. While playing this game I was occasionally reminded of Overcooked, a game where the unrealistic layouts of the kitchens cause mayhem and fun for the players. Unfortunately, in this case the maddening kitchen layout is replaced by a frustrating rotating set of tools which are absent or present seemingly at random, and random map generation which can drastically change any given playthrough. The Geoengineering elements which allow you to move earth, create stone, etc are either clunky and annoying in their lack of fine control, or completely absent from certain zones leaving the player fully at the mercy of the random layout of the levels. I could have seen a totally different game design approach where tools are gradually unlocked globally, and players are allowed to select their choice before heading into a zone. As it stands, this game was memorable but tedious. I would purchase another version of the same game, or expansions if they are released.
Update: I decided to change my overall review to Positive in order to avoid potentially discouraging a new player from giving it a try. Despite my frustrations with the title, I'm sure there are many who would love this game as-is. None of the above text was changed.