Review: Mazement on PC

Game – Mazement
Release Date – February 19th, 2016
Platform – PC, iOS, Android
Developer – Wronghut
Mobile gaming has exploded since the advent of the iPhone and other ubiquitous portable devices. It’s been around since the days of the Gameboy, but a touchscreen and powerful processor in every pocket has created a new era of gaming. However, for some, that’s not enough. Why be limited to only one platform, when theoretically you could play a game anywhere? While many studios have gone that route, releasing companion apps and stand-alone games alongside major PC and console releases, it was inevitable that we would see some bleed-back the other direction, with mobile games releasing versions of their games on PC and console. Mazement is one of those games, and while briefly entertaining, it absolutely should have stayed in its mobile wheelhouse.

Mazement is described as a “3D ball rolling game with a story.” You control a rolling ball to navigate 30 levels of mazes and labyrinths, collecting coins for power-ups along the way and crashing into the cages of other trapped balls to set them free. The control method on the PC version takes some getting used to. You move the mouse to move the plane of the level, causing the ball to roll. You do have some direct control of the ball itself – left-clicking brakes the ball, almost keeping it a standstill on an even plane, right-clicking is a jump, and center-clicking uses the special ability you have armed. Those special abilities are a spiked ball that can kill enemies, a super jump that can go over walls and large gaps, anti-gravity that allows you to float over obstacles, and a fireball that sends the ball shooting forward, breaking through walls and killing enemies. Those abilities can be picked up on certain levels, and there’s a merchant you can purchase them from with the coins you collect in the levels. Each level has an exit you have to reach, navigating a series of pits, ledges, spikes, enemies, and traps to survive. There are also two bosses included throughout the game that you have to find a way to defeat.

The gameplay is entertaining enough, though awfully short. I completed all 30 levels within 2 hours, and wasn’t highly motivated to go back and get a higher score on any levels or pick up any coins I missed along the way. Once I got used to the awkward control scheme caused by using the mouse, I found the mazes to be challenging without being overly frustrating, although there is a stretch where the ball is turned into an oblong-shaped rolling egg that drags on too long. Penalty for dying stops the clock and sends you back to the last checkpoint you passed. Since levels are timed, finishing with a faster time means a higher rating out of five stars you can get for each level, adding to replay value. Mazement seems to be quite proud of the story aspect of the game, if you can even call it that. The Squares of the land are convinced by the evil Pyramid to lock up all the balls in a jail, and……..well, that’s pretty much it. You control the ball that manages to break free, and you move from level to level gathering coins and setting free other balls, trying to reach the exit. There is a couple of boss levels against the jailer square and the pyramid, but calling all this a story is a stretch as much as calling “I ate an apple” an anecdote.
The problem with Mazement lies in its mobile roots. Mazement was meant to be played on a motion controlled handheld device. The idea of moving a marble by tilting a phone calls back to the earliest iPhone games, taking advantage of the new control scheme that is perfectly suited to its medium. That control method does not translate to the mouse. Even after beating every level, controlling the marble never quite felt right, and as a game whose whole soul runs through the thread of that control method, its shortcomings are even more pronounced. The graphics are cutesy and do the job, but take no advantage of the PC’s faster processors and more abundant memory. Mazement for PC is $4.99, more than double that of the Apple store’s $1.99, with little to justify the higher price. I haven’t played Mazement on a mobile device, but my time with it on PC leaves me wishing I had. There’s a certain beauty in the always-availability of games on mobile that lead me to spend five minutes trying to beat a time on a level, a feeling that I just don’t get when sitting down a computer to play. I also expect more out of my gaming dollar than a couple of hours for 250% what I’d pay on my phone. But most of all, I just can’t get past the control method of the mouse compared to the much more natural motion controller of a phone. If you love marble rollers and don’t have a mobile device to play it on, check it out on Steam, but otherwise, just pick it up on your phone or tablet, and you’ll be much happier with your purchase.[rwp-review id=”0″]