Room Escape Artist

Boxes: Lost Fragments is a point-and-click game available on Steam, developed by Big Loop Studios and published by Snapbreak.

Format

Style of Play:

• point-and-click

Who is it For?

• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level

Required Equipment: Android or iOS device, or Steam-capable computer

Recommended Team Size: 1

Play Time: The game has no timer. Expect 3-4 hours total.

Price: $14.99

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

This is a point-and-click game you can download on Steam. The game contains of five chapters with four levels each. So rather than exploring a whole area, you have smaller self-contained levels. Each level is shaped like a chest, with multiple puzzles and riddles on each side.

On a tablet, a touch-based interface allows players to slide, rotate, press, and otherwise manipulate mechanisms and the viewpoint.

Brett Kuehner’s Reaction

• + Complex and beautiful mechanical boxes that animate as you solve them
• + Gorgeously detailed and well-rendered graphics
• + Excellent atmospheric sound design, especially good via headphones
• + Touch interface on a tablet is fluid and intuitive
• ? Light narrative links the puzzles to the story, but doesn’t have much depth
• -/+ Ending of the story has a lovely animation but barely any story
• ? Interactions largely consist of finding locations and items to manipulate. Only a few involve actual puzzling.
• + If you like The Room series (and who doesn’t?), you will almost certainly like Boxes: Lost Fragments

Editor’s Note: For more on the The Room, check out our podcast interview with Barry Meade.

Joel Smileypeacefun Reaction

As you find yourself in a mysterious villa, you open up box after box to discover a powerful secret.

At its best, the story here makes a whole lot more sense than the one that the previous game Doors: Paradox tried to sell. It’s easy to get started and get lost in all the challenges. The graphics are good, most of the elements are highly interactive, and the hint system fits thematically. I especially enjoyed a cute jump-and-run type riddle. Also, the transitions between chapters were smartly done involving some extra thinking.

At its worst, a lot of the content is just about finding objects and figuring out where to place them. If you stumble upon actual puzzles, they’re often sliding brainteasers which are very hit-or-miss. You either get them right away or you hopelessly use a trial-and-error approach.

If you like smaller, self-contained puzzle-y levels, this is a perfect way to kill some time.

Matthew Stein’s Reaction

There exists a somewhat niche subgenre of puzzle video games which might be described as “unnecessarily intricate mechanical puzzles that would be impossible to construct in the physical world.” The Room video game series defined this genre, and I’m happy to report that Boxes: Lost Fragments is a strong new addition to the category.

As the title suggests, Boxes: Lost Fragments featured a myriad of diversely themed puzzle boxes. Each was a mind-blowingly complex fidget toy, requiring as much manipulation of dials, wheels, and switches as any actual puzzle solving. The puzzles generally didn’t prove much of a challenge, though they didn’t need to. The graphics were gorgeous, a bit more cartoonish and playful in style than those in The Room, yet still teeming with layered intrigue. It was occasionally difficult to discern which elements were interactable, yet overall, the gameplay flowed smoothly.

Boxes: Lost Fragments was pretty and polished, devoid of any narrative depth but full of small, satisfying solves. If you are looking for a few hours of soothing puzzle-driven fidgeting, this is the game for you.