Pixel Puzzles World War II Jigsaw Puzzles

RANKING:

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AVOID | FLAWED | MAYBE | WORTHWHILE | COMPELLING | UNMISSABLE

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SYNOPSIS:

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[th]ASSESSMENT:[/th]
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Pixel Puzzles: World War II (PP:WW2) brings more of the same relaxing and dependable puzzle-solving gameplay to the digital format. A near complete set of features mimics the real-life process very well. Available pictures range from middling to good depending on whether they are photos or not, as these were not shot in high-res. However, the current selection would be better served with the inclusion of more well known images over generic ones, whose higher licensing cost I expect will be passed on through paid DLCs. Specifically more nose art, technical drawings or perhaps even maps instead of so many photos.

While the base game is free it only consists of 40x or so puzzles, serving as the platform to deliver paid-for DLCs in the future. With it's predecessor having delivered 146x DLCs this game will undoubtedly turn into quite a money-sink. Yet with many of these having an additional 15-30 puzzles, they will without a doubt be more than worthwhile in a sale.

Given a lack of issues and limited content, the base game that is PP:WWII receives a ranking of MAYBE.
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[td]STATUS:[/td]
[td]Released and feature mature given its predecessor was released over a year ago and has had many DLCs since
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[td]APPEAL:[/td]
[td]A perfect fit for lovers of WW2 themed jigsaw puzzles. Anyone unable to live without getting all eventual DLCS for 100% completion should give it a wide berth
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[td]VALUE:[/td]
[td]The base game is completely free
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More info below....

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3051278067

OBSERVATIONS:

► Pixel Puzzles WWII does justice to its simple PREMISE of virtually recreating the fun of jigsaw puzzle-solving without all the clutter. It *will* introduce an ever-growing mix of free and DLC digital puzzles through an already mature framework, this time with a World War 2 theme.

► VISUALS are mostly fine but some of the photos are clearly not in high resolution. Those that seem to have been manipulated can have unfocused portions within those images. Whether this has been done deliberately to help/hinder puzzle-solving is unclear. With several AUDIO tracks that play on repeat the soundtrack didn't particularly resonate with the WWII. At least for me.

► GUI & CONTROLS are basic but functional. The screen is split into three well proportioned areas that mimic the need for a sorting area for loose pieces, a picture of the finished puzzle for reference and the main-board to find the solution. A specific sorting section to put aside incorrectly matched pieces when trying to find a specific piece, may be the only thing missing. Currently they need to be piled onto an already crammed board. For some reason I could not get loose pieces on the board to go back to the pool by right-clicking them.

► The 4x categories of PUZZLES that come with the base game, number 41x so far. These are a interesting mix of propaganda imagery, technical depictions and an assortment of pics taken throughout the conflict. A special category also includes some choice images with a corresponding written description for some context. This sadly isn't available for the other puzzles. The best are easily the vehicle diagrams, posters and aircraft nose art which were indicative of the era.

► PUZZLE SIZES range from 96 to 1410 pieces, though currently puzzles are found in 96, 140, 216, 330, 425 and 640 pieces which is a shame. As "full size professional puzzles" are promised on the store page I really hope to see a lot more 1410 piece puzzles in the future.

► PUZZLE PICTURES in the base game are varied in type and quality. The latter being decent in many of the puzzles, though perhaps not as many are as well-defined as they could be. Perhaps a consequence of manipulating colours to be of a certain hue, to aid in solving by matching them.

► PUZZLE MECHANICS are based around the processes used in solving physical puzzles. Basic options include: clearing the board, shuffling the loose pieces, resetting puzzle or highlighting particular pieces. The best feature has to be piece auto-placement, that puts pieces in its slot once correctly oriented and positioned on the board. This is a real godsend.

Another essential feature is the automatic saving of progress for each puzzle. The constantly flow of moving pieces in the pool area is a bonus that ensures there is no need to pick up and adjust pieces that are upside down or lie upon another piece. Unlike physical puzzles, pieces can never be lost.

Puzzles can be attempted free-form as there is no need to unlock any of them. A positive for some that want to attempt any puzzle in any order. Changing the colour of the background area when pieces are all or mostly the same is missing. This would have made putting these in the right place a lot easier.

► The limited amount of FREE PUZZLES available through the base game (and later free updates/dlcs) are woeful in comparison to the potential catalogue of puzzles to come out in DLCs. So if anyone expects to get more than a few dozen, they will be disappointed.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3051279552

COMPLEXITY

🔶 ACCESSIBILITY - If you have solved any physical jigsaw puzzle in your life, you should have no problems understanding what PP:WW2 provides..
🔶 DIFFICULTY - The challenge is defined by the number of pieces that make up the puzzle and not much else. There are no timers or any other mechanics to make things harder. Additionally the colour compositions of some pictures make them naturally easier or harder to solve.
🔶 BALANCE - There are good mix of tiers (six currently from 96 to 640 pieces) though less so of the smallest and largest sized puzzles. There are currently no puzzles with then highest number of pieces.

STAYING POWER

🟨 REPLAY VALUE - Once a puzzle is completed it can be reset and retried as many times as possible, just like physical puzzles.
🟨 LONGEVITY - A good mix of achievements are sure to prove addictive to some gamers but ultimately this will come from all the DLC puzzles that are sure to become available. PP: Ultimate has over 2700 achievements and 164 DLCS with a conservative estimate of 2000+ puzzles to acquire. DLCS cost from less than a dollar up to 15 dollars, but only a paltry five of them are free.

PRODUCTION

🟣 QUALITY - No bugs were encountered and very little need attention, mostly a lack of GUI evolution which is a missed opportunity. On native resolution, the bottom edge of the pic is trimmed. Pieces can be dragged outside the window and temporarily lost from the game board. The piece shuffling pool area tends to heavily deposit pieces to the right side of the board.
🟣 STABILITY - No crashes experienced.
🟣 STEAM - Achievements. Cloud saving. No controller support.
🟣 OPTIMISATION - Offers a stable 40-42 FPS.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3053009967
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[td]REVIEWED
WITH:[/td]
[td]Game Build v1.0.14.29
INTEL i5 6600 3.3GHz, 8GB RAM, GTX970 @ 1GB 1920x1080 windowed, EVO850 SSD, Speedlink XEOX Pro Analog Gamepad
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[td]Find more related screenshots:[/td]
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HERE

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Thank you for reading | Click to follow my curator THE IRREGULAR GAMER

Chill puzzle game. Only complaint is that you can't put piece multiple pieces together independently, forcing you to essentially start from edges and work you way around. This feels odd compared to a traditional puzzle, where you can form groups of pieces without knowing yet where they belong.

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