When you're writing about a minimalist game, particularly when it's a puzzle game where half the fun of the game is discovering the rules yourself, it's really hard not to go overboard with nonsense in a review. You could turn the entire thing into a sonnet or some other metric form, or talk up the game in incredibly vague and flowery terms. Impasse by Wanderlands doesn't need that. It's a clever but tricky puzzler that speaks for itself, even if it lacks so much as a title screen.
Without spoiling too much of the actual gameplay, the goal is to navigate your circle (the plus) to the finish line (the check) in each level using the [arrow] keys. Along the way, you'll encounter different obstacles that create an impasse for you. These obstacles behave in different ways, so you've got to figure out what each one does and why. There are twenty-four levels to traverse with increasing difficulty. The shortest distance between two points certainly isn't a straight line here, as you'll end up making circles around yourself to find the correct path to the exit.
The simplistic presentation of a handful of circles and symbols with subtle sound effects works well for a puzzler of this sort, where concentration and calmness come in handy. On the other hand, the minimalistic approach does leave a few helpful items out, such as the ability to select puzzles. While you can skip an unlimited number of levels through the menu using the [Esc] key, you can't actually backtrack and play a previous level without resetting the entire game. Also, it feels as though too many puzzle elements were crammed into such a small package, as you're still being introduced to new circle types within the last few levels of the game.
That said, there's a tremendous amount of brainbusting to be found in such a tiny game. You only have thirty spots to move to, but you'll be trekking around the grid for a good long time. It'll be pretty hard to pass up this Impasse.
Thanks to Donut and Taylor for sending this one in!