Patrick’s Parabox is a puzzle video game.
Format
Style of Play:
- Puzzle video game
Who is it For?
- Puzzle lovers
- Any experience level
Required Equipment: Computer
Recommended Team Size: 1
Play Time: 8-10 hours for the main path
Price: $20
Booking: purchase and play at your leisure
Description
Patrick’s Parabox is a puzzle video game available on Steam or itch.io.
In this game you push blocks around to solve levels, but unlike most Sokoban-style games, you can manipulate the blocks in unusual ways, including pushing them inside each other. The game is separated into several worlds containing a handful of levels each, with each world introducing a new rule about how the blocks interact with each other.
Tammy McLeod’s Reaction
This is a great little spatial logic game. The concept is elementary and intuitive. I was able to immediately grasp the goal without the need for a complex rules tutorial. The visual design is simple, but engaging. Each puzzle is fairly small, so it is easy to jump in for just a few puzzles or for a longer solving session. The levels are well designed, gradually introducing new game concepts one at a time, giving you the chance to master each one over a dozen or so puzzles before moving on.
Theresa Piazza’s Reaction
Patrick’s Parabox is a low-stress, puzzley computer game. The art is cute, graphics are smooth, and overall, the game is really pleasant to play. The game has a series of boxes you must best before unlocking the next level. As it’s not required to beat all boxes before moving on, when you’re stumped, you can take a break to tackle a bonus box of a previous level, boosting your confidence before attempting the challenging box again with fresh eyes. If you like this style of game play, and are looking for similar games, I encourage you to check out Braid and Baba is You.
Sarah Willson’s Reaction
Patrick’s Parabox offers a novel variation on the block-pushing puzzle game by opening up a new dimension: shrinking down to go inside the blocks. With a new concept introduced in each world and increasing challenge throughout, the game builds a well balanced difficulty curve that feels elegant and satisfying. I enjoyed twisting my brain into new ways of thinking as I played with recursion and other counterintuitive mechanics.
The visual design is sparse and there’s absolutely no story, which leaves the game feeling a bit cold—I missed the personality of a game like Baba Is You, a similarly brain-twisting experience. But the minimalistic approach seems like an intentional way to let players focus on solving puzzles, and it lines up with the weird physics in the later worlds.
With more than 350 levels, it’s a sizable game, but many of the levels are quick to solve, and maybe half are side puzzles that aren’t required to complete the game. This is a great design choice, because it means you can beat the game, feel triumphant, and then go back and tackle the challenge puzzles later if you want to feel like a genius.
If you enjoy puzzle games in the Sokoban genre, Patrick’s Parabox is worth checking out.