Beyond the Wall

The game had some cute animation moments, and the backgrounds actually look very nice, but I just can't recommend it, it's way too short for the price, and most of the puzzles were not very intuitive. Not that it was difficult, I just felt like I was brute-forcing the hotspots almost the entire time, like the solutions are just way too random, you might as well try every combination because you will end up doing it anyway. The game probably would benefit from the visible hotspot system, just press space to show all of the interactive areas - which would make it even shorter, but at least it would be more intuitive.

It's only about 45 minutes, and even that was mostly because it didn't have hotspots, I probably wasted around 20 minutes just because some of the puzzles had a very strange thought process.To be fair, I did get a few laughs out of it, partially because the game was slightly unpredictable, for better or worse. I don't necessarily dislike the puzzles in terms of their concept, I just think the game requires more feedback with interactions, when you doing something wrong or if there is a possibility of doing something right, you often have to 'trial and error' it, the game does not help you all that much.

The narrative was mostly visual storytelling, I thought it had a cute ending, but not very interesting otherwise. The game could use more locations and optional events, it only has 3 achievements so. The areas that it has don't look bad, the animation is simple but it works well enough, just need more content.

Pros:

(+) I thought the backgrounds and the characters looked nice, it's not super well animated but it didn't look bad or anything.

(+) I did get a few laughs out of it, even though some of the puzzles were a bit too random, I generally liked the actual events and how they were animated, or just the creativity behind them.

Feedback:

Nitpicks - the game is simply too short, if you actually had hotspots it would only be around 30 minutes. The locations are not bad, but you just need more of them, and maybe more optional achievements as well.

Puzzles - I thought almost every puzzle in this game had some moon logic element to it. Adding hotspots would help, but also you can provide the player with more feedback when you interact with objects, maybe like tiny animation with sketches or what the character is thinking about.

Overall Thoughts: 5/10

The game is alright, but you can get something similar with 2 to 10 hours of content, so if you want to pay $7 for it, it's really up to you. Like, the level design is not bad, just try to be more intuitive with puzzles and the feedback they give to the player, consider using a hotspot system if you are not confident in the game logic, and just make a longer game, at least try to hit a few hours.

Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/

Games nowadays are getting more and more content jammed into them. Open-world RPGs filled with hundreds of hours of content, live-service games with ongoing developments, and many more similar types of games are becoming increasingly common in the gaming industry. But sometimes you just want a quick game you can finish in one setting. These types of games often leave a more memorable impression on me and tend to be more about the quality of content than the quantity. Beyond the Wall from start to finish is a wild ride full of tense moments and lots of good storytelling. If you can spare some time to complete it, you’ll walk away with an incredibly memorable experience.

The gameplay is quite simple—almost childishly so. Which is understandable given that the game is aimed at kids.

Like in every point-and-click game, you can only move around and interact with things on the screen by using the mouse. Because you are not required to choose between several actions for specific hotspots, the gameplay is not overly complicated. The girl will automatically pick an object, use it, or shake her head to indicate that you should try something else after you click on the point of interest.

You're playing adventure games incorrectly if you're used to the contemporary mechanic of showing hotspots, which eliminates the entire point of the genre. Exploring the screen and trying things is always interesting. Obviously, this only works when the game doesn't overfill the screen with things.

This mechanic is unnecessary for this game. The hotspots are so obviously protruding from the screen that you'll click on them out of pure curiosity. Solutions make sense, so you know what to use as well.

Well, there is one puzzle right at the beginning that doesn’t make sense. You need to guide a worm by clicking on the right holes that are supposedly marked by lines on the ground, but the problem is they don’t match. This turns into a trial & error situation where you’re repeating the patterns until you get the right one.

The fact that you only carry a few items per scene makes it simple to combine objects in your inventory and use them where they are needed. Furthermore, there isn't any strange logic in the game that prevents you from combining objects. You can always use a trident to grab something that is out of reach. If a wooden stick is needed, you have a saw in your inventory that will do the job.

Another positive aspect is that most can be used on the same screen where you found them. This completely eliminates backtracking and time-wasting activities. In fact, because you're constantly moving forward, you can't even go back to the previous screen.

You have access to one visual clue per scene if you get stuck and are unsure of what to do. It gives you helpful hints without giving away too much, which is always appreciated.

You won't find a challenge here if that's what you're searching for. The game can be finished in a few hours because there aren't any hard puzzles to solve.