Tube Twist is a puzzle game brought to us by the guys at Garage Games and 21-6 Productions. Already the winner of several awards, including the Players Choice ‘Best Single Player Game’ and ‘Best Overall Game’ at the IndieGamesCon 2005, we decided to find out what all the fuss was about and take a look at it for you.
The back story is a simple one - the scientist in charge of Project TubeTwist has gone missing. You must find them and solve the mystery of their disappearance, but to do that, you must first reconstruct their experiments.
The game will have some familiarity to people that have played games such as Contraptions or Pipe Dreams. You have some ‘macroton devices’ (pipes) that you must link up to get the energy spheres from their starting positions to the final sealed and safe reactor tube. Not all of the macroton devices are simple tubes, however, some will change the direction of the energy, speed it up, or make it defy gravity.
The first few puzzles you are faced with are simple ones, gradually introducing new macroton devices and getting you into the swing of things. It feels easy to start with, but it does not stay that way for long! There is more than one solution to each problem, and no time limit, but that is for a reason - over time the experiments you will build will become increasingly convoluted and require several re-runs to try to figure out what is meant to go where.
My first thought on seeing this game was that it was just another pipe/puzzle clone, albeit with nicer graphics (see below) and a smoother interface than the ones of a few years ago. The difference, however, is that this one lets you get straight into the building, and, with its relaxed ‘run-oops-pause-change-run-again’ style lets you just have fun trying to solve the experiment until you succeed - the pressure is removed, leaving you to just keep playing, and playing.
I have not played many puzzle games recently - mostly because there are so few of them out there these days, and the ones that are tend to be cheap clones. This one is a genuine attempt at doing something interesting. The people at 21-6 Productions have thought about this game and the puzzles inside it. They give you enough different parts and situations to keep you constantly thinking throughout the game, and mange to keep you encouraged and enthusiastic about moving on to the next level.
Graphically, this is a nice, polished game with an intuitive interface. I wasn’t that impressed with the background music, but there is an option ot turn it off.
There is the option to create your own puzzle packs, and you can download player created ones online, so you should never run out of puzzles.
Another great this about this game is the low system requirements - it will run on most machines, and it is more engrossing than many top-end graphics requiring games too. If you are looking for a game for your laptop, to keep you entertained during long train journeys, then this is it.
While it is a family-friendly game, and one that older children will enjoy, it might not be suitable for all children because the puzzles do start getting more complicated fast. If a child does get their teeth into it, however, then it should help them develop good reasoning skills.
Overall, I can see why this game has won awards. It is a refreshing addition to the puzzles genre, and it is obvious they have taken care to make their challenges not just fiendish, but fun. Don’t just think games like this are for ‘casual gamers’ - give it a chance, it might be the most fun you’ve had since those first exciting few playerkills in World of Warcraft.
If you want to buy TubeTwist, you can download it for $19.95 from the Garage Games web site. Get over there now, even if just to grab the free demo version so you can see the fun for yourself.
Overall:9/10
Graphics:9/10
Sound:7/10
Interface:9/10
Replayability:10/10
