Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise (2015)
Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise (2015)
Seller: Yak & co
Platform: iOS 7.0+
Size: 177 MB
Price: $3
Agent A is a visual point-and-click puzzle game that takes three to five hours to complete. You are the unseen Agent A infiltrating the secret lair of master assassin Ruby. Wander from room to room solving puzzles until you get to her inner sanctum and confront Ruby herself.
Each room is represented with a static picture. You can tap on various objects which sometimes causes you to zoom in. Some taps lead to further rooms and there is a back button to return to the previous room.
Each room tends to have some hidden items and a two or three puzzles. Many puzzles are of the "you need a certain key to open this" and the key is found elsewhere or as a rewards to a different puzzle. Some puzzles I remember encountering:
1.A couple of Simon Says follow-the-pattern.
2.A sliding squares puzzle.
3.Tap the buttons to turn off all the lights.
4.Notice that a picture or note gives the solution to another problem.
None of the puzzles are very hard and a few can be done through trial and error. All items are automatically carried and used once and once only. I was only stumped for up to 10 minutes or so and I'm pretty bad at puzzles. Ten minutes is long enough for me to go "ok, one more time going through everything and if nothing new comes up I quit this game" but there was always something new.
There is some spot animation but this is not an animation game. Sounds are sparse but appropriate. I don't think you need the sound on to solve any puzzles. I like the drawings and the story, such as it is.
Overall it's a neat puzzle game. It's about the size of a chapter 1 of a full-fledged game. Recommended especially if you find it on sale.
Dec 28 2016 Addendum: The last Agent A update reorganized the existing puzzles into Chapters 1 and 2 and added Chapter 3 puzzles for free. It's another hour to ninety minutes of puzzle solving.
Monday, November 21, 2016