A Labyrinth of Puzzles or a Maze of Mediocrity?
We all know the story of the Minotaur. His mesmerising maze, destined to trap our heroes into eternal darkness as they lose their way, and slowly but surely, their light too.
It’s arguably the magnum opus of Greek myth – alongside the tales of Medusa and Hercules of course – leading to the plethora of adaptations.
On my list of suspected adaptations of Greek myths, nowhere did it say a sokoban puzzle title revolving around the Minotaur, yet that is exactly what Afil Games have produced with Minos Dungeon.
As you’ve most likely guessed, the title sees you roaming a labyrinth-like puzzle area in typical sokoban isometric 3D. Your one and only goal? Escape.
Pushing Blocks to Freedom
Once you’re dropped into this world of blocks, typical sokoban puzzle gameplay ensues; pushing a plethora of unique blocks around in an attempt to solve the puzzles laid out by Minos Dungeon will be your sole gameplay objective.
So how do you go about doing this? Well for those of you who have never delved into the sokoban genre (or simply need a refresher) here’s what a game in the genre will typically consist of: you must move blocks or items to open a path to the end of the stage, typically a block filling a hole to let you reach the goal point, all of which is achieved through harmonising the stage elements, be it arrows that fire the blocks into a certain direction or trapdoors that teleport them.
A simple concept. And that is one thing I can appreciate about this title, there’s no secondary gameplay objective, instead Minos Dungeon honours its simple roots and is always straight into action, disregarding collectibles or the like.
Special Blocks and New Challenges
That’s not to say gameplay is basic and shallow, as there are always new mechanics being introduced to keep the gameplay refreshing. A wide variety of special blocks such as X blocks, redirecting arrows or trapdoors are consistently introduced, spicing up each few levels to a distinct and personal identity, rather than the trap many fall into of each stage flowing like one huge level.
Despite these words of praise, Minos Dungeon simply does not do enough outside of introducing new blocks, aside from aesthetic, leaving it feeling not so far from the abundance of other sokoban titles out there.
Flawed Level Design
A large part of Minos Dungeon’s downfall can be attributed to the perplexing (and not in a good, puzzling way) level design. Stages are made up of three distinct basic blocks; holes, an empty space that must be filled before you can walk over; Minotaur blocks, these can fill the holes and must do so to reach the end of stages; and finally destructible blocks, these are either obstacles or your allies all depending on the puzzle and can be destroyed at your will. The aforementioned X blocks and co, also become available later on, resulting in more thought provoking puzzles.
On paper, it sounds like these would make for a great concoction of mind boggling challenges, combining teleportation and strategic thinking in advance, yet sadly it’s hardly ever the case that plans are conjured up to reality perfectly and without flaws. In the case of Minos Dungeon, many, many flaws plague the level design, slowly seeping through to the overall product. For one, the difficulty of each stage rarely ramps up, in fact I found the middle portion of the game significantly more challenging than that of the latter.
The sokoban sins extend further to the foundational level design philosophy opted for – various elements that in the end aren’t crucial to completion. These faux blocks give the illusion of difficulty, when in reality the solution is often simple, being push the blocks in a short, set routine; whether or not this is intentional is up for debate, it would certainly fit in with the aesthetic and story of a Minotaur’s labyrinth and a puzzle game, however can that pass as an excuse for mediocre level design? That’s down to each individual player to decide, yet for me, I personally found it to be a cheap way out of genuine difficulty.
A Consistently Average Puzzler
Beyond all of this, Minos Dungeon is extremely inoffensive. It’s not inherently a flaw, in fact it can often make for back to basics masterpieces, however in the case of this title, it’s clear all the tropes and conventions of the genre are hit, without doing much in the way of paving a path forwards. I could tell you to play this – and if it’s your first sokoban I’m sure you’d have fun – yet if you trace the gameplay lineage back even just a small bit, every minuscule aspect of fun you may find here, has been directly lifted from its predecessors. Minos Dungeon is enjoyable, with little flaws, yet it never reaches highs, rather opting for a consistent averageness.
Minos Dungeon is unlikely to offend you, at times even able to provide some enjoyable gameplay, yet a few sokoban sins, paired with the knowledge that each ounce of fun is lifted from a predecessor, leaves this one bordering on just average.
Important Links
A Sokoban Tale Awaits in Minos Dungeon on Xbox and PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/a-sokoban-tale-awaits-in-minos-dungeon-on-xbox-and-pc/
Buy Minos Dungeon, Optimised for Xbox Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/minos-dungeon/9p86t2s3zxmz
Buy an Xbox One version – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/minos-dungeon-xbox-one/9p678xzbq95t
Take home a Bundle – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/minos-dungeon-xbox-bundle/9p7g9v59n02l
