A Puzzle Game that’s More Than Just a Morsel
The Pipe Mania concept has a rather lengthy legacy in the puzzle genre, dating back to the 1980s. What began as a fairly simple looking grid full of pipes used to carry green goo to its final destination, eventually spawned more adventurous takes like Pipe Push Paradise. Heck, the Artifex Mundi series features a host of mini-games, which have built upon the original idea in different ways too.
Now though, Dragon Snack is about to put its own spin on things as it borrows elements from the classic puzzler. With developers Afil Games behind it, you already know it’s going to be cheap and will very likely provide a boost to your Xbox Gamerscore. So, what you really want to know is, is Dragon Snack actually good enough to warrant investing your time in?
Guiding the Dragon
In Dragon Snack, the aim is to guide a cute dragon to its nest by creating a suitable pathway for it to traverse. You’re presented with a grid of hexagonal tiles representing pieces of a path, some of which can be swapped and rotated to connect the dragon to its end point. There are also tiles that have coins upon them to collect on the route to victory and these cannot be moved. Despite there being no tutorial, it’s very intuitive and there shouldn’t be a problem figuring out what you’re supposed to do.
Initially, the only path types you have to worry about are straight ones and corners, making the solutions rather simple. Soon enough, crossroads enter the fray alongside a daunting looking tile where all six sides of the hexagon lead have an entry/exit point. Coupled with a growing grid size, the routes naturally become much more complex, ensuring an enjoyable challenge is to be had.
Jigsaw Logic
Each level might seem trickier than it is, with many tiles to reorganise, but ultimately, logic prevails. Just like a jigsaw puzzle, placing the most obvious pieces into their correct spots first really lessens the amount of brain power needed to sort out the rest of the positions. And then you have to factor in the non-moveable tiles, passing through them on the way to the nest.
These static points on the grid actually introduce new things over time, like spiked logs and the fire gems needed to bypass the aforementioned logs. Additional dragons and nests are also brought into proceedings, causing you to carefully avoid congestion on the route. I’m not convinced that any of these ideas elevate the enjoyment further though. Still, it generally offers enough of a task to keep you thinking, without much chance of you getting stuck and frustrated.
The Path to 2000G
Should you find the puzzles too difficult, there’s a handy hint button. Perhaps it’s more of a spoiler button though, because it draws the entire route on the screen for you to see. While it’s a temporary visual, it means you can always complete a level and that means there’s nothing stopping you from acquiring the whole 2000 Gamerscore that’s available. Even without hints, there are only thirty levels to overcome and you can wrap up all the achievements by the twentieth level, which is easily doable in under an hour.
In regards to the visuals, there’s a cartoon-y aesthetic to the dragon and the fairly colourful world it lives in. It’s a shame that the overall vibe doesn’t change much throughout though, with only a summer and autumn theme present, but it’s fine otherwise. As for the audio, there’s a relatively chilled BGM that sounds quite fantastical, which does a decent job for the setting.
A Fun Puzzler for a Quick Gamerscore Boost
On the whole then, Dragon Snack actually manages to deliver a good path-building puzzler that’s not going to break the bank. The challenge is decent enough to hold your interest for its fairly short completion time and there’s fun to be had by figuring out the solutions. The mechanics introduced are a tad underwhelming however, so it’s fortunate that you’ll have it finished rather swiftly before becoming too stale.
Dragon Snack won’t set the world alight with its ideas, but it’ll certainly be a fun way to boost your Gamerscore on the cheap.
Important Links
Prepare the Path – Dragon Snack is a Unique New Xbox, PlayStation & PC Puzzler – https://www.thexboxhub.com/prepare-the-path-dragon-snack-is-a-unique-new-xbox-playstation-pc-puzzler/
Buy Dragon Snack for Xbox Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/dragon-snack-xbox-series/9P42QLLZX5SV/0010
Get the version for Xbox One – http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/dragon-snack-xbox-one/9NHCX7Z0XN3B/0010
