
Puzzle games in VR tend to work extremely well; being able to explore and manipulate puzzle elements with your bare hands is an absolute joy, so it’s no wonder why we’ve seen so many on the headset.
And now at the start of 2025, a new one has dropped that I had absolutely no awareness of beforehand: Epyka. Will this be worth adding to your collection, or will be an epyk fail?
Many thanks to the publisher for the review code. If you’re interested in Epyka, you can get a discount by clucking on our affiliate link.
THE FIRST CIVILIZATION
The game opens with an awards ceremony awarding you, Scott Hudson, with an award for discovering the origin of civilization. Before you can receive your award though, the scene is cast back to your adventures when you stumble across the island with your loyal dog Jack. All is not quite as it seems though, as there was a reason that nobody discovered it previously – and those answers lay within the crystal that was passed down to you by your father, as well as within your own blood.
One of the game’s standout features is its gorgeous stylised graphics. The environments are rich and colorful, making the world of Epyka a delight to explore. This extends too to the cutscenes that play frequently as you uncover more about the history of the land and its people. These narrative sequences can occur a little bit too frequently as they often break the pace, and there’s no way to skip them if you just want to get on with the puzzling. I personally found the more environmental storytelling techniques, particularly those showing the bond between Scott and Jack, to be far more compelling than the scenes the game often forces you to watch.
As for the gameplay, this bright and beautiful world sets the scene for a variety of puzzles for you to solve. There’s no real singular puzzle type on offer, but there are certainly themes that pop up frequently. The most notable of which are dioramas that can be manipulated to affect the world around you. It’s always a joy seeing these shrunken down areas and being able to manipulate the world in real-time.
Rather than being intriguing brain teasers though, such as the wonderful Maquette, instead a lot of these puzzles tend to feel a little slow paced and lose a lot of its sense of wonder. But it’s not just these puzzles that suffer either, as pretty much every puzzle either feels too easy with little thought required at all, or convoluted requiring trial and error to push through. The worst types though were when you have to work against a time limit, which were my least favourite of the puzzle types. It’s a shame really as the game does have a lot of heart and good intentions, but the gameplay rarely succeeds at being satisfying.
But that’s not to say that there’s nothing here to appreciate, as the narrative and level of polish on offer is quite impressive – especially for the price tag. Even though I didn’t find myself resonating with the puzzles on offer here, more hardcore puzzle enthusiasts may find something here worth playing.
VERDICT
Puzzle enthusiasts will probably enjoy the beautiful world of Epyka, with its budget price tag and charming presentation; however, most will probably find that the unsatisfying and occasionally obtuse puzzles make the game more frustrating to play than fun.
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