S-03 · Sublayer review
GuessThe.Game
A daily video game puzzle: name the game from its screenshots in six guesses or fewer.
The review
GuessThe.Game is a daily puzzle for people who have played a lot of games. It shows you a screenshot from a video game and asks you to name it; every wrong guess reveals another screenshot, and you have six guesses in all.
It is pleasingly hard. Early screenshots are deliberately unhelpful, a corner of a menu or a patch of sky, and the satisfaction comes from recognising a game from almost nothing. One puzzle a day keeps it short.
A way in
Play with someone who grew up on different games from you and guess out loud; you will cover far more ground together.
A place to stop
One puzzle, then done. Tomorrow brings the next.
Before you play
- The answers range across many eras and genres of games.
- It suits a pair or a small group around one screen.
- A bigger screen helps: early screenshots hide in the details.
Also on the shelf
- PuzzleScript: An open-source engine for making small block-pushing puzzle games, with a gallery of games other people made.
- The Evolution of Trust: A short interactive guide, half game and half explainer, to why people trust each other and when it breaks down.
- Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup: A deep, fair, open-source roguelike: one character, one dungeon, a quest for the Orb of Zot, and no second chances.