Not each sport has to have a AAA funds or photorealistic graphics to supply one thing intriguing. An excellent instance? Seduction: A Monk’s Destiny, a side-scrolling puzzler by KOEX Studio, a single dev out of Singapore. On this title, you assume the function of a Buddhist monk trying to cleanse your monastery from the temptations of a malevolent deity.

Being primarily developed by one particular person, the sport carries with it many apparent limitations: animations are sparse, there’s no voice performing, and the music is extra a set of stings than a correct rating. However working with out most of the anticipated frills means better care should go into different areas of the sport. The story is ample, the puzzles are surprisingly intelligent, and the title by no means tries to overreach.

The largest triumph is by far the artwork path. Whereas character fashions look usually underwhelming, the atmosphere design is outstanding. Making nice use of color, and surprisingly grotesque imagery, the locales it’s a must to stroll by way of are far and away the sport’s spotlight. There’s a shocking quantity of care packed into these backdrops, the place the longer you stare at them, the extra particulars you’ll start to note, corresponding to skeletons sneakily patterned into the wall.

Sadly, the transitions between the varied areas can really feel a bit of abrupt, as is evidenced by one sequence the place you may need to outrun a large spider. Different gameplay points happen, too, just like the hitboxes on environmental hazards and enemies typically received’t line up, leading to low-cost deaths. You’ll by no means lose greater than a minute from these moments, however it’s nonetheless a nuisance. Regardless of these irritations, the extra conventional gameplay components are built-in with basic point-and-click object puzzles. The inclusion of dodging provides a level of engagement that the title would in any other case be missing and helps make the one hour – sure, one hour – runtime really feel rewarding.

When you shouldn’t count on it to linger within the thoughts to the identical diploma as comparable titles like House, Seduction: A Monk’s Destiny affords a one-sitting expertise at an inexpensive worth, whereas getting simply sufficient proper to make it definitely worth the low worth of entry.