Author: Daniel Heck Genre: Puzzle License: Freeware Version: 0.92 Other Links: -

Downloads: for Windows 11,178 KB (Setup EXE) for Linux via third parties for Mac 11,444 KB (OS X 10.4 Zip)

Thoughtful

There are a lot of games these days that have glamorous or interesting main characters - for example Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, or Link from Zelda to name just two. In Enigma you will find precious little glamour, but the 'protagonist' here is still one of the more interesting choices in a game - a black marble!

There are no Marble Madness-style antics here, though, and indeed players of Rock 'n Roll on the Amiga or any of the Oxyd series on Atari ST and PC will most likely recognise the idea of Enigma already. The aim is to use your marble to open all pairs of the 'Oxyd stones' scattered across each landscape, solving various puzzles and avoiding traps as you go.

Initially all of the Oxyds are closed. Touching one with your marble will open it, revealing the coloured symbol within. To keep an Oxyd open, you must find its partner (i.e. the Oxyd with a matching symbol). If the next Oxyd you open does not match, the first will close up again. Once the final pair is opened you can progress to the next level.

Blocking your progress through the 700+ levels (some of which are in the style of Sokoban) are many cunningly-devised puzzles, wacky items, and lethal enemies, many of which make use of Enigma's smooth physics engine. All collisions are accurately modelled and map elements interact with each other logically (such as lasers that can destroy weaker types of walls and wooden blocks that can be pushed into water to make pathways).

As a change of pace, you will occasionally come across a meditation level which has a slightly different aim. Here you will have simultaneous control over at least two marbles with your task being to manoeuvre each one into small pits on the floor. In these levels you will often find that you must make use of the varying friction levels of different floor surfaces to correctly position the marbles.

While Enigma's graphics and sounds are nothing remarkable, they are certainly more on the ball than those of its predecessors and have been brought up to date nicely. Difficulty progression is smooth and you are never confronted with something unexpectedly difficult, although there is always a new enigma to discover...

For puzzle lovers of all ages, this is a true gem and is heartily recommended. Keep on rolling!

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