Who's ready to feel dumb again? What is this run of games, eh? What chance do I have of getting anywhere into sliding block puzzle Cogs in this state of mind?
Also, what's this LOLspeak option?
Fun Times
I regret nothing. I'd need to restart the game to change it back now. That's not happening, LOLspeak it is. You'll just have to work it out for yourselves. It's probably closer to where my current ability is anyway.
Cogs is, simply put, a series of sliding block puzzles that task you with joining up a start point with an endpoint. For example, this first level requires us to 'turn teh shiny'. Easy.
You're scored on your ability to find the solution quickly and within a certain number of moves, with more stars being awarded the better you do. The more stars you earn, the more puzzles you unlock, and they'll get a lot more involved than a cog-filled grid.
It's not long before we're solving puzzles on cubes, the solution linking the engine to the rotors to allow this steampunk contraption to fly. The graphics look rather HD-for-their-time if you know what I mean, but it's all smoothly animated and you can manipulate the puzzle to get a view of it from whatever angle you want.
Sliding blocks can be done rows at a time to save on your move count, but I'm not worried about that at all. I'm just admiring the polish on display, really.
It's not all cogs, but it is all block sliding, and some of the puzzles do require some knowledge of how cogs move in relation to each other. This one requires you to ring the bells at the same time, which required me to slide one side down a step to reset the position of the clanger a little before sliding it back up to ring at the right time.
Yeah, I know - I'm as surprised as you are that I didn't just abandon Cogs right here. I'm getting smarter.
Frustrations
And then I hit the wall, as was inevitable. I was thinking that Cogs was getting old already - what else could you do with a sliding block puzzle? - and then it introduced another twist. A twist too far for me.
That was the front of the puzzle. This was the back.
Solving two puzzles at once? Do I look like I belong in Mensa?
Final Word
Cogs is a neatly presented set of puzzles with lots of detail and animation that could well keep you playing for a while. Right up until you get stuck and give up like I usually do.
I'm not interested in sliding block puzzles as a mini-game, so a game full of them was never going to inspire me a whole lot, but Cogs does what it does very well. It almost makes sliding block puzzles fun. It definitely makes them more interesting to look at than I've usually seen them.
But it's still a game that I felt I could safely conclude wasn't for me after a short amount of time. It was still a 'one and done' experience. I've played Cogs, I know what Cogs is about, I don't need to play Cogs anymore.
If it gets absolutely mindblowing and reinvents sliding block puzzles for the better, well, I simply wouldn't know. I think my life has been quite enjoyable without knowing what the future of sliding block puzzles is, thanks to Cogs telling us how it should be done way back in 2009.
Worth a quick go at least. If you like it, stick with it. And know that the LOLspeak is entirely optional.
Fun Facts
Cogs was one of thirteen titles to take part in Potato Stack, an alternate reality game to promote the upcoming Portal 2, and includes some Portal themed puzzles for you to wrap your brain around.
Cogs, developed by Lazy 8 Studios, first released in 2009.
Version played: PC, 2009.