KISS. No, I’m not asking for one, rather, I’m highlighting a system that often gets ignored. KISS stands for Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. and is something game developers in particular seem to forget. They are always pushing graphics, larger worlds, forcing crafting where it doesn’t belong, telling idiotic stories, and more. They do anything but keep it simple and build projects that feel more like bloatware than actual, you know, video games. The team at Nihoe Soft seem to understand this because they used the KISS system to great effect with their latest release in Mimic Logic.
Mimic Logic is a very simple video game that does one main thing and does that one thing very well while using small extra gameplay bits to help mix things up instead of distracting the player. I’ve written for ages about games being better when they focus on a single gameplay style that works well instead of cramming in so many needless systems that you became a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. Mimic Logic keeps it simple by being an automatically generated logic puzzle roguelike that’s incredibly addictive thanks to one great gameplay loop.
It’s all so very simple. You descend down into a dungeon and come across a series of treasure chests on each floor. These treasure chests all talk and its up to the player to determine which chests are telling the truth and which contain a mimic that is/are lying to you. You must listen to what they say and use your deductive logic to find the imposter(s). You can then open the safe treasure chests and collect the goodies inside that will help you on your quest down.
These treasures are vital to complete the dungeon as they will provide you weapons, armor, and items to help boost your rank making you stronger. During your dive downward you’ll come across rooms that are filled with enemies that you’ll need to defeat. This means the more treasure chests you open the better your chance will be to take on enemies and make skipping levels something that will make your run harder. At the bottom of the dungeon you’ll face off against a final boss and so have the highest rank and best gear will help you defeat them.
And that’s it! You simply figure out which chests are safe and reap their rewards in a loop that keeps you coming back for more because it’s essentially a game about yourself and you deduction skills. Mimic Logic will give your brain a real workout and it becomes quite addictive. I intended to play a little while to get a feel for the game and come back later but before I knew it hours had passed and I had wrangled my girlfriend onto the call. We went on to later stream Mimic Logic because of how much a good time we were having.
This is what happens when you keep it simple. When a developer has an idea that they know works and focuses on it and ignores adding unnecessary bloat you get often get something really special. In the end we have an RPG Maker title that puts games on bigger engines, with larger staffs, and huge budgets to shame in terms of pure fun. And all of this will run you $4! Crazy how only a couple of bucks can provide you with a near infinite amount of fun while giving your brain a little work out. Mimic Logic might be the best value you can get in gaming right now.
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