Some of you may remember my “Heroes Review” on YouTube for a game called Pixel Puzzles: UndeadZ. The idea was to piece together a virtual jigsaw puzzle…always with a zombie theme…while simultaneously warding off actual zombies, tower-defense-style. The action was furious, adding a big dose of challenge to an otherwise relaxing tabletop pastime. Today we continue with another title in the same series. It’s called Pixel Puzzles 2: Space, developed by Decaying Logic and published by Kiss Ltd. This game is far less intense than its predecessor, which can be a good thing or not, depending on your mood. Pictured below is a sample of one of the game’s easier puzzles.
Here we’re building a photo of Mars, and you can see I’ve already completed the corners and sides. Outside the puzzle borders, there are several things going on. Unplaced jigsaw pieces float around, waiting to be used. The bottom edge of the screen represents your tabletop, where you can prearrange pieces as you would do with a physical puzzle. Also floating around are little capsules that can be loaded into special sockets located at the bottom-left corner of the screen. When loaded, sockets give clues to help solve the current puzzle. Be careful though. If you abuse the clues, you won’t have enough capsules left to build the rocket ship shown on the left side of the screen. If the rocket is left incomplete, the little astronaut dancing around the screen will have no way home…he’ll be stranded (and you’ll be stranded out of a Steam achievement). For this reason, I always try for a “perfect game”, where I use no clues whatsoever. However this is a game review, so we should probably discuss clue basics.
Show Ghost [G]: Temporarily replaces your current puzzle progress with a full picture of the solution. You don’t see the jigsaw outlines here; only a smooth, complete image.
Location [Space]: Temporarily highlights the correct location within the puzzle for the jigsaw piece “in hand”.
Fix Angle [CTRL]: Temporarily rotates the jigsaw piece “in hand” to face the correct direction for placement into the puzzle.
Rocket: This is where you place as many capsules as possible. If you place enough, the rocket will suddenly launch, indicating that a Steam achievement is on the way should you go on to complete the puzzle.
When a puzzle is done you’re returned to the main menu, where you can select another. Puzzles range from 60 to 350 pieces, but the goal is always to rescue the astronaut.
So is Pixel Puzzles 2: Space worthwhile? Yes, it is. It’s very relaxing and perfect for those times when you want a virtual jigsaw puzzler that’s less action-packed than its aforementioned predecessor. Priced on Steam at $10 (USD), this title is a good value. My only “issue” is that it may be a tad tame for fans of the series who are looking for a more heart-pounding experience. You can find Pixel Puzzles 2: Space on Steam if you want to check it out!
-Chris Roberts-
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!