Game: Home Deco Puzzles
Genre: Puzzle, Board Game, Education
System: Nintendo Switch (also available on Steam (Windows))
Developer|Publisher: Kistler Studios
Age Rating: EU 16+| US Everyone
Price: US $5.99 | UK £5.39 | EU € 5,99
Release Date: August 18th, 2022
Review code provided with many thanks to Kistler Studios.
Do you love a good home decoration show on tv? They are all the rage currently, so maybe you’ve found a couple of designers to watch in their daily shows. When I found this puzzle title, I was curious to combine home decoration with a good puzzle. Let’s see if it works out!
No Decorating, but Memorizing
Home Deco Puzzles does indeed show you rooms of different sizes from single to double, penthouse and studio. There is no story and what’s more, someone else has already done the decorating for you. That’s because this isn’t a decorating game, but a memory puzzle game.
You are shown an image of a room with furniture and everyday life items such as a mobile phone, laptop and so on. You have ten seconds to memorise the contents of the room and their positions in it.
After ten seconds, you are shown a room full of boxes. You must empty the boxes of their contents and place them in precisely the same place as in the image you were previously shown from memory. The game does allow for some mistakes in placing the furniture and items, but not many. Your goal is to achieve three stars on each level so you can move on to the next level.
No Tutorial, No Hints
Home Deco Puzzles doesn’t have a tutorial, which means you go in blind. Still, you’ll figure it out pretty soon as it isn’t a challenging game. You just have to have a good memory.
Controls are shown on the screen once you start the game. The left stick moves the cursor; the right stick zooms the camera in or out of the scene. You press A to pick up an item and B to place said item. You can also use the touchscreen if desired, which works as it should.
If you can’t remember the room’s layout, the game doesn’t offer any clues or a hint system. So you are on your own. A hint system would have been helpful, such as pressing a button to get a quick reminder of the room. After all, the ten-second view at the start of the puzzle isn’t very long and some folk don’t have that great a memory. A little reminder would have been helpful. As it is, you have to start the level you’re stuck on over again to get it right, otherwise, you can’t proceed until you get some stars.
Conclusion
Home Deco Puzzles doesn’t bring out your inner home decorator, but focuses on a game of memory instead. The game is simplistic in design and the background music is peaceful, which makes it relaxing to listen to. Other than that, you will be disappointed if you expect this game to be similar to, for example, Unpacking. The only similarity between the two games is that you unpack boxes.
Final Verdict: I Like It 