The concept behind Vexis is what I like to called ‘That Zelda Puzzle’, mainly because when I think about sliding blocks around a maze and trying to push them into the correct finishing place, it always reminds me of the Temple of Ice (or whatever it was called) from Ocarina of Time. Not that Legend of Zelda is the only game to ever use this type of puzzle, but definitely the most memorable – at least for me.

The prospect of an entire game made up of 33 of these puzzles is a little, well… underwhelming to say the least. It’s rather surprising, then, that I did in fact quite enjoy myself with Vexis – well, at least for a short while. The whole package is nicely presented, and feels pretty smooth to play. It may not be at all memorable, but hey, you’ll get a good hour’s worth of solid puzzling for your buck.

GAMEPLAY

Vexis presents you with a series of grids filled with square coloured blocks. Each grid will also contain a white block and a black hole. Your task is to rotate the grid by 90 degrees either way, forcing the white block around the maze and into the hole.

The white block will always obey the laws of gravity, so if you spin the board and Mr. Whitey has nothing to stand on, he’ll fall down until he hits something. This simple premise leads to some interesting puzzling, although once you’ve worked out the pattern and how it all works, it’s possible to simply work backwards from the hole and find the correct path.

This won’t work for the entire game, however, as special blocks begin to appear later on, including blocks that fade away and reappear every now and again. At this point, it becomes a case of finding the correct path, then rushing along quickly before the floor disappears from underneath! There may only be 33 levels, but they become pretty challenging towards the end, and will really test your noggin to the extreme.

The time scale while playing Vexis can feel pretty odd. You’ll finish up a level and look at the clock to find that it took you far less time than you’d assumed. See, even though the puzzles are quite tame, the action is in fact pretty fast-paced, as you throw the grid back and forth and watch the white block slide around. It’s not exactly heart-in-your-mouth action, but it’s no stroll in the park either.

My only real gripe with Vexis is that it doesn’t let you skip levels. If you get stuck on a certain, more difficult level, then you can’t progress any further until you’ve figured it out. It would have been nice to have the option to skip to the next level and leave one or two out here and there at least. As it is, if you get stuck halfway through the game, you’ll most likely just give up and not see the rest of the levels, which is a shame.

STYLE

For such a simple puzzle concept, Vexis looks surprisingly slick. The menus and interface in particular are nicely polished, while the grid is fairly interesting to look at… well, as interesting as a grid can look like anyway.

The rotation effects and sliding motions are also well done, adding plenty to the rush of solving the puzzle in as quick as time as possible. There isn’t any noticeable delay between hitting the trigger and watching the grid spin, which could potentially have been a game-killer for this type of concept.

The music isn’t so hot. You’ve got one track on repeat for the entire play, which begins to seriously grate after a short while. On the flipside, there is no music at all playing on the title screen. So let’s say Vexis gets a B+ for art design, and a ‘See Me’ for sound.

STORY

It’s a simple puzzle game involving spinning grids and blocks, and as such – quite understandably – has no story.

OTHER

Vexis entertained me far more than I thought it would. The moving blocks around a grid game mechanic is getting rather old now, and it’s not going to knock your socks off, but for a solid hour of gaming, Vexis can provide.

Of course, if you’re not entirely convinced that a rotating maze puzzler will be up your alley, just give the demo a download and try it out for yourself.

[Try/Buy]