Early 2024, a small indie called Arranger: A Puzzle-Filled Adventure sneaked into the Nintendo Direct: Partner Presentation. According to the short trailer, I was intrigued by its gameplay. Its main character advances through the world by moving as if on plates, moving the row or column as a whole. A few weeks before its release, I had the chance to play this Argentinian title during latin american gamescomand I was certainly not disappointed.
“I hope what you find brings you more peace than what you had here.”
With these words begins the adventure of Jemmaa young girl who begins her adventure outside the city that adopted her. Unfortunately, her movements are strange and she doesn't attract many people in this place. However, her exit will not be so easy, as she must first see where to leave all the trash she has accumulated over the years, as well as obtain the key to open the large door that separates this place from the outside world.
Before leaving, she will have to convince the mayor, help a wizardand even find a kitten who is being harassed by monsters. This is how the game begins to explain the particular gameplay and how Jemma's movements affect her environment. The learning sequence is staggered and simply takes place in an environment of puzzles that work very well with this scrolling mechanic.containing in some cases puzzles that years of The Legend of Zelda have helped to decipher.
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Although you can move up and down, Jemma can also cross to the other side of the screen in certain roomslike Pac-Man running from one side of the stage to the other. These movements can be limited if there are other objects, like rocks, that collide with another element and prevent our motion strip from moving.
Although the Arranger had a very easy start, There was a point where the game started to overwhelm me. A puzzle, which I could describe as one of those puzzles where you have to put the numbers in a certain order, was one of the biggest obstacles I had in front of me. How to move objects when others were holding me back. After almost 10 minutes, ego and the search for new mechanics were enough for my mind to find the solution. The satisfaction was great, but also the idea of the kind of puzzles I would find later.
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I don't know how it happened, but after an hour i knew i had to stop. Visual art, courtesy of the same artist who worked on BraidAnd how rewarding the combination of extremely simple gameplay with complex but rewarding puzzles is It was enough to keep me there longer than expected.
Arranger leaves me hungry, and with that brain massage you get after the puzzles that makes you make a mental effort. It was one of the many surprises I had at gamescom latam, which shows the talent that exists in the development of the region. For now, we have to wait a little, because this title will arrive this year July 25 on PS5, Switch, PC, Mac and Netflix.
