Splice

Splice is an interesting little puzzle game where you attempt to manipulate a strand of cells to match a predetermined shape. Okay, I realize that sentence doesn't sound too intriguing, but the game really is.

The premise is simple - rearrange substrands or use special cells to change the overall shape. It's made more difficult since you have a limit to the number of moves you can make, thus requiring you to really think about where things go, or what order you arrange special cells in. There are also rules about how the cells behave, such as that each cell can have two subcells, or children if you. Basically, it's like building a binary tree with a certain shape.

Or getting so frustrated that you build this instead in an attempt to break the game.

The special cells are simple, but pretty important in how they are used. First up is a cell that divides, replicating anything below it. With this you can build up some extra cells to solve a puzzle, or make more of other special cells. Then there is a cell that extends, simply turning one cell into two, pushing everything else below it down further. The final cell destroys itself and anything below it.

Over the course of 7 groups of levels, the game introduces you to the various special cells and other behavioral aspects of the game, building on each concept covered in the previous groups through a series of levels, usually 7 or so per group, to make sure you have the basics down before you move on.

While initially you must always reattach a stand when you go to move it, in the later part of the game you can set them aside all together, allowing you to take them out of the equation, use some special cells, and then reincorporate them. Also, in the case of this one, it is Angelic, meaning you can solve in it less moves then the max allowed, which is not true of all the puzzles.

Initially I was quite surprised at how fast I was going through the game. The first 6 groups of levels didn't put up much of a challenge, and while the 7th was nice because it was the first to really incorporate all of the mechanics into single levels, after about an hour and a half I had already beaten the game. Thankfully, once you do that, there is this thing called the Epilogue that unlocks, which contains another 4 sets of levels, and those are quite challenging, because they brought my total time to 5 hours.

Splice really is a great game to try in short bursts, and I played it over the course of several months when I just wanted to try something for a few minutes, usually when I should have been working on something far more serious. The beautiful piano soundtrack, which is also available for purchase, makes the game very relaxing, at least when the answers to some of the puzzles are easy enough to come by. Most of the time in the epilogue however, they aren't, which just goes to show you how simple mechanics and a couple of brilliant minds (in this case, over at Cipher Prime Studios) can combine to make a very good solid game. Look for it at $5 or so, and try the demo out ahead of time to see if this type of thing is right up your alley - 7 out of 10.

So, the final breakdown:

Score: 7/10

Suggested Price: $5

*****

For more Splice, check out this collection of various screenshots otherwise unused in this review. Click any one for a full sized image.