Square Valley 4+

Pros: Just the right level of challenging strategy and relaxing pace. The interface is user friendly and intuitive. Easy to pick back up after putting down. High replay value because every map is randomly generated at the start of a round. Each new level has some new tile element that adds to the freshness and fun of the puzzles. (The sandbox mode allows some selection of these elements, but it isn’t always good at putting them together in a logical way).

Cons: Because of the randomizer, sometimes daily challenges are near impossible to complete and there is no way to reset. Also, even though the random map gen means you can replay levels, it would be nice to have more than 45 levels (15 per chapter)… because reaching the end is kinda sad when you’re loving a game!

Suggestion: Please add more chapters and levels! Also, perhaps maybe add the option of a larger map (more tiles) for sandbox and more ways to customize the sandbox puzzles. Speaking of that, can you add to the glossary an explanation what each tile element means and does?

Love this game, really thoughtfully done. Creative and satisfying puzzle. Initially I was going to suggest some type of real time scoring, with values going up or down with each placement, but after thinking it through that would just make each turn a boring round of trial and error. What would be nice for replay is a record of your personal stats on each level. I find myself wanting to try a level again to see if I can improve, but by the time my new score rolls around I forget what my last score was. Would be fun to have refer to personal stats for each level like:
Attempt 1: score, highest value placement, lowest value placement, most used tile
Attempt 2: score, etc…

I’d also be interested in a board game version of this. Would need to be able to use your phone to calculate the scores (scoring Carcassonne is hard enough I can’t imagine this), but would be pretty great if you could figure it out. It’d be a fun programming challenge I think.

Absolutely adore this game. I love figuring out my strategies for each set of tiles and tiles, and can’t help but go back to try to improve my score in ever single level.

Every single tile has little ways you can squeeze every last point out of it, and when you manage to get a high score with an aesthetically pleasing map, the feeling is wonderful. As frustrating as it was adjusting to plateaus and islands, it was even more satisfying when I finally got it down.

Only possible complaints aside from wanting more levels are that the randomness of the tile options and spaces can sometimes just give you the finger. Part of it is not drawing out the levels for too long, sure. The more tiles you have placed the more likely you’ll be blocked. But sometimes the game just gives you a dozen occupied spaces, a singular open space, and a pair of tiles that will only penalize your points. But it’s part of the game, and I just kind of learned to roll with it. Sometimes your attempt just doesn’t play out.

But seriously. More levels. They don’t even need to be new content. Just mix and match and cookie-cutter with the old tile sets you already have, and give me more levels to get high scores in. So many of the cool concepts are only used once, and both sandbox and the daily challenge feel so unsatisfying in comparison to seeing your high score recorded permanently.