Crossniq+ is the puzzle game of the retro future ⊟
Crossniq+ does two totally disparate things really well, combining two disparate design accomplishments to create something special. First, Crossniq+ is a new, fresh, well-designed puzzle game, something I can’t conceive of doing myself and don’t understand how anyone could accomplish.
The second accomplishment is a note-perfect riff on the style of late-90s/early 2000s, mid-tier Japanese games. I never even considered that style a “style” until being presented with Crossniq+. Essentially, it’s as if developer Future Memory traveled back in time and came back with an undiscovered Dreamcast game.
Here’s a cool thing I can do: I can explain the gameplay by sending you over to the free web version. However, I can also explain it with words. You shift squares around on a grid to form intersecting lines. When a line from left to right crosses with a line from top to bottom, you get a “cross,” the ever-decreasing timer resets, your score increases, and the crossed tiles change colors for you to shift again. When I first encountered this, I felt like I was being asked to complete Rubik’s Cubes on a constant deadline, a task I haven’t otherwise been able to complete within a generous 39-year deadline. After a first attempt that saw the timer elapse while I stared hopelessly at the screen, it clicked for me and I was sliding tiles around the screen at high speed. It’s one of the most drastic, enjoyable learning curves I’ve had in a puzzle game. I’ve mostly been obsessively replaying the “endless” mode, submitting middling scores to the pre-launch leaderboard, but the game has local multiplayer as well, along with a nice “chillout” mode with no timers.
The excellent base game has been paired with some awesomely late-90s visuals and sound, described as a “Y2K aesthetic.” It’s kind of what I still think of as “the future,” with chibi superflat avatars, video backgrounds, and weird flavor text in corners. Every mode corresponds to a spot on a transit map for basically no reason, and everything sounds cooler than it needs to.
I don’t think you need to be my exact age to enjoy Crossniq+. Though I’m biased, I think it looks cool. More importantly, it’s a deviously craveable puzzle game, great either on a TV or touch screen. Also, I happen to be my exact age, and it perfectly targets my sensibilities. That’s a bonus.
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