Square Valley User Reviews

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  • Simply engaging

    I love the simple nonviolent logic of this game. Pleasant and addictive. I just wish there were more levels to work through. I do the daily challenge most days and love it, except that when my score is high enough to rank in the top ten, the screen freezes up and I just get an unending “loading” screen. It will show my ranking if it is out of the top ten, but I never see the ranking of my best scores.

    Still, it a joy I have added to my morning routine.
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  • MORE.

    Absolutely adore this game. I love figuring out my strategies for each set of tiles and tiles, and can’t help but go back to try to improve my score in ever single level.

    Every single tile has little ways you can squeeze every last point out of it, and when you manage to get a high score with an aesthetically pleasing map, the feeling is wonderful. As frustrating as it was adjusting to plateaus and islands, it was even more satisfying when I finally got it down.

    Only possible complaints aside from wanting more levels are that the randomness of the tile options and spaces can sometimes just give you the finger. Part of it is not drawing out the levels for too long, sure. The more tiles you have placed the more likely you’ll be blocked. But sometimes the game just gives you a dozen occupied spaces, a singular open space, and a pair of tiles that will only penalize your points. But it’s part of the game, and I just kind of learned to roll with it. Sometimes your attempt just doesn’t play out.

    But seriously. More levels. They don’t even need to be new content. Just mix and match and cookie-cutter with the old tile sets you already have, and give me more levels to get high scores in. So many of the cool concepts are only used once, and both sandbox and the daily challenge feel so unsatisfying in comparison to seeing your high score recorded permanently.
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  • Satisfying, pretty, and relaxing!

    Absolutely love the puzzles in this game. They are engaging, with every single one adding some new twist, and the perfect length of time for a relaxing break, running around 10 minutes. Not to mention the charming artwork and music!
  • Didn’t like

    I wanted to like this based on positive reviews, and suggestions I saw on social media. But it suffers from usability and feedback problems, i.e. it’s not very clear what you’re supposed to do, or what the implication is. Ultimately, the tutorial was a bit too mindless, and the other levels seem like they’re just going to be a super complicated version of minesweeper.
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  • I Love This Game

    Pros: Just the right level of challenging strategy and relaxing pace. The interface is user friendly and intuitive. Easy to pick back up after putting down. High replay value because every map is randomly generated at the start of a round. Each new level has some new tile element that adds to the freshness and fun of the puzzles. (The sandbox mode allows some selection of these elements, but it isn’t always good at putting them together in a logical way).

    Cons: Because of the randomizer, sometimes daily challenges are near impossible to complete and there is no way to reset. Also, even though the random map gen means you can replay levels, it would be nice to have more than 45 levels (15 per chapter)… because reaching the end is kinda sad when you’re loving a game!

    Suggestion: Please add more chapters and levels! Also, perhaps maybe add the option of a larger map (more tiles) for sandbox and more ways to customize the sandbox puzzles. Speaking of that, can you add to the glossary an explanation what each tile element means and does?
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  • Love the game, needs better tool tips

    Very reminiscent of Islanders or any game like that. Also similar to some Roll and Write board games. My biggest issue is what in tarnation is an “area”? Game uses the term constantly and never explains it at all. There’s even an article written about the game complaining about the same thing when I tried to look it up. Please help, dev.
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    Developer Response

    I appreciate the feedback! Rule clarification is definitely something I'm trying to improve and you are correct that even common terms might not be understandable. There is a glossary in the settings menu that gives a little graphic about what "area" is, but it does often go missed by players. "Area" means the 8 tiles on all sides directly surrounding the tile. Among other ideas on improving rule clarifications, I might possibly add some highlighting to "areas" to give the player a little bit more info. Anyhow, I hope this helps, thanks for the feedback!
  • Beautiful indie board game

    Loved playing through this game. If you like euro board games with solitaire modes, this beautifully replicates the feel. Great example of a game that doesn't need to be flashy to be good. Every map has a unique challenge to keep things fresh.
  • Fun game

    This takes skill and a little luck.
    Just beat all 3 stages. Willing to buy an expansion pack w/ larger or more complex maps.
  • Good

    Good game, just there’s very little knowledge of where you are going to be allowed to place the next tile, and it seems random
  • Not what I hoped for

    This is a two-star game for me. The game works well, and it looks good. So I’m rating it four stars out of respect for the developer. I will probably delete this game because:

    1. Tile scoring is too complicated. A tile might be worth 5 points if it’s 3 or more spaces from a wall. Otherwise it’s worth 1 point unless it’s adjacent to a river. That sort of thing. For me it became work, not fun, to find the best place to put a tile.

    Many people like such complexity. Many don’t. I’m mentioning it so people know what to expect.

    2. I couldn’t tell what my score was during a game. So I had no way of knowing how I was doing until the game ended. The game really should display a player’s turn-by-turn score.
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