By John Walker on December 9th, 2010 at 10:01 am.
Here’s a classic bit of puzzling. Heavy Hogur, from Swedish indies, Spelagon, is the sort of puzzler that would have fit in well during the Amiga days. And indeed today. You play a fiery dwarf who’s somewhat over-familiar with gravity, who must mine all the crystals from a level before reaching the exit door. However, the majority of the tiles he walks across will crumble down a level after Hogur’s stepped upon them. Since he can’t climb, it’s about figuring the correct route that won’t leave him stranded.
This is a pretty generous demo, too. There are a hefty 27 levels available, of what must be around 100 in the full game, but you have to get to them quickly. There’s about an hour of free play time. And the overly-easy ones don’t last long – you’re quickly being challenged.
The game itself looks relatively pretty. It’s in isometric 3D, with some cute animations. However, it’s also a tad glitchy – nothing game-breaking, but it flashes and pops occasionally. But importantly, it offers an old-fashioned collection of puzzles, which are pretty satisfying to solve. It’s Spelagon’s second game, their first being Mulver. You can get the full game for a mere $10.
Here’s the trailer, and you can get the demo here.
09/12/2010 at 10:42 Dominic says:
So like the puzzles in the pokemon ice gyms? Awesome!
09/12/2010 at 11:54 Coins says:
Oh please no. The Ice Gym puzzles were horrible, fiendish things. Or I’m bad at puzzles, that’s possible too. This looks nice, though.
09/12/2010 at 13:27 Xercies says:
Even though they were horrible and nearly made me break my Gameboy, they were very satisfying to complete. Though the most annoying thing is getting to a leader in an ice gym and through all that puzzle crap and losing to the gym member and then having to do the whole thing again.
09/12/2010 at 11:06 K says:
Needs a double jump, certainly!
10/12/2010 at 01:05 Tommy_Pepper says:
A jetpack or grappling hook would also be acceptable.
09/12/2010 at 11:13 KillahMate says:
The Traveling Salesman Problem in game form. Interesting.
09/12/2010 at 12:22 Bob Bobson says:
The fact that the connectedness dynamically changes in response to your moves, and that it has a (probably unique) correct solution on each level, rather than being an optimization problem, makes this not the travelling salesman problem. And a better game for it.
09/12/2010 at 12:29 KillahMate says:
True, it isn’t really, but I get the impression that’s what they started with before they gamed it up. For the better, of course.
09/12/2010 at 11:49 JayDee says:
Scarborough Fair? Doesn’t seem particularly Dwarven.
09/12/2010 at 12:27 Dyst says:
I have had access to the (private) beta of Heavy Hogur for some months now and it’s A LOT of fun. I’d easily pay £10 for it.
09/12/2010 at 12:55 fallingmagpie says:
Happily, it’s only £6.50!
09/12/2010 at 12:43 pilouuuu says:
Heimdall anyone?
09/12/2010 at 14:50 Saiko Kila says:
Heimdall without guns.
09/12/2010 at 13:24 fallingmagpie says:
Demo crashes on start up for me, Windows 7 x64. Anyone got round this?
09/12/2010 at 17:49 Jolima says:
Hex-a-Hop is another game with similar mechanics but simpler graphics from a few years back.
Get it free from here: http://hexahop.sourceforge.net/downloads.html