Scorching Earth

Posted by Terry Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:05:00 GMT

scorching

Scorching Earth is all about planning ahead – you start with one burning patch of land, and you have to spread the fire outwards to consume the whole level. I could spend a while explaining how it all works, but honestly, it’s best discovered yourself by diving right in. This is the sorta puzzle game I love – the kind where you have to sit back and think things through, as opposed to making twitch reactions to random blocks.

I’m only six levels in, but first impressions are very positive! There’s no tedious tutorial levels or handholding – it’s hard enough to cut your teeth on right from level one (in fact, it actually gets easier for a while after the first level). All puzzle games should be like this!

(Source: JayIsGames)

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Comments

  1. JohnEvans said about 1 hour later:

    It took a long time for me to figure out how to get past the first level. It was more frustrating than fun. There’s a reason games use tutorial levels.

  2. David said about 2 hours later:

    Well, I have to agree sometimes tutorials are useful, but I don’t think they should be mandatory.

  3. Zmann said about 2 hours later:

    Great game. The first level is a little off-putting, but after that it’s smooth sailing. I’m up to level 23 now, and I’m having a ball.

  4. David said about 4 hours later:

    I have no idea how to play. Oh well.

  5. Bob said about 10 hours later:

    You consider games about “making twitch reactions to random blocks” puzzle games? For shame.

  6. Alan Gordon said about 11 hours later:

    Yeah, uh, I have no idea how to beat the first level. I’m just trying things at random now.

  7. jeb said about 18 hours later:

    Got stuck on level 18.

    My cents:

    • First level is too hard
    • No undo option is annoying
    • The user interface responds too slowly, it feels sluggish to play
    • The “score to win” thing is a bit annoying too, since it forces you to sit and count tiles in order to create a strategy. I guess it’s inherit with the gameplay, though, and hard to “fix”.

    Otherwise, a neat puzzle game indeed :)

  8. Ben said about 24 hours later:

    An interesting concept, one which I would probably play more if I could get that last tile of level one…

  9. Prio said 1 day later:

    I just caved in and spoiled myself past level 27. God I hated that level. Had the principle down, but the practice was falling apart at the end.

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