Do you remember those wire loop games where you had to guide a hoop around a metal track without touching it or the buzzer would go off? Well, looking at all the preview material, Squingle appeared to be similar but inverted; with you firmly grabbing the ball and moving it gently (steady, lads), the goal is to care moving it through a winding translucent tube so you don’t hit the sides.
It looked like a pretty cute idea, so I was keen to give it a try in order to see how it fared in practice.
Little did I know what was really waiting for me…
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SQUIRMING AROUND
Even though Squingle seems quite straightforward on the surface, there’s actually far more to this mixed reality puzzle game than you may have realised. In fact, it’s quite hard to show off exactly how the game works from mere screenshots and footage alone as until you get your hands on it, you won’t be able to truly appreciate what the game has to offer. Even the tutorial that sees you moving the orb through undulating pipes won’t prepare you for what happens after clearing the tenth stage.
That’s because it reveals that Squingle isn’t actually like the wire loop game at all – in fact, it’s actually more like Kuru Kuru Kururin. Once you’ve gained mastery of that singular ball, you’ll then be given a second to deal with that spins around the other. It seems like a small change, but it doesn’t take long to see how it flips the game around. Those long thing pipes that were a doddle before now seem like a nightmare as you’re forced to rush through them before the balls spin to an inconvenient position. Loops, conversely, are easier by comparison since you can move around them in time with the rotation to get around with ease, but it only works if they’re moving in the same direction; if they’re not, you’ll have to find another way around or obtain a power-up to switch the direction of the spin.
To add to the difficulty, the weird cosmic material that the pipes are made of can make discerning the path rather tricky as they continually ebb and flow. What seems to be a wide path may soon be revealed to be two parallel tubes instead that have to be traversed at the same time. It’s horrendously stressful, but the ability to move around the world to see things from a different angle ensures that it’s never unfeasible.
It’s a delightful experience that builds up its difficulty way steeper than you’d expect overs its 100 stages. Sure, it may be straightforward enough to reach the end of each level, but should you be going towards perfection (all green balls collected and without ever touching the side), then you’re going to get challenged pretty early on.
But this challenge never feels impossible, regardless of your skill level. At its core its all about keeping a steady hand and taking care; the haptic feedback will guide you for when you’re getting close to the edges, so you just have to keep your cool. The question is: are you able to?
VERDICT
Squingle is a wonderful little puzzle game that feels like Kuru Kuru Kururin on acid. With its trippy aesthetic and vast number of challenging stages, this is one mixed reality game that you don’t want to miss out on!
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