Game: Unlock the Feelings – Little Inner Monsters
Genre: Puzzle, Strategy
System: Steam (Windows, macOS)
Developers | Publishers: Mens Sana Interactive
Controller Support: None
DLC Price: US free | UK free | EU free
Release Date: May 5th, 2022
The game is free to download on Steam
For many years we have had a program on tv called Lingo. In it, teams have to guess a word of 5 letters in a set amount of attempts. They get one letter to work with and have to deduce what word they have to guess by trial and error. I looked it up, and I think you might know the game as Wordle. Mastermind is another comparison that comes to mind. Remember the little pins you put up for your adversary to judge if you’ve put the right color in but on the wrong place or the right colour in the right place. Playing Unlock the Feelings – Little Inner Monsters feels just the same way. This time, you don’t use letters or colors, but feelings. A very novel way to approach the concept. Let’s see how this free-to-download gameplays.
Wrap Your Mind Around the Tutorial
Starting up the game, a little critter tells you all you need to know. You find 6 Arena groups on the lower half of the page, representing Calm, Tumultuous, Happy, Sad, Heavenly and Gloomy. The 36 cards present our emotions, also known as Little Inner Monsters. The first card in the row is the Arena Card; the others are the Feeling cards.
The block where you put up your play cards is called the Enigma. The first card you put up, you draw from the Arena cards, and the card in the first feeling slot has to come from the same Arena. The other four need to come from any of the other Arena’s.
Pressing the check button shows you an outline of your tiles. Blue means that there is a Feeling card from the right Arena in this position, but it’s not this card. Yellow means that this Feeling card is in the Enigma, but not in the right slot. Green is for a card that is the right card and in the right place. If the outline turns red, it means that the wrong card is in the wrong place, but it also means that no other cards from that particular arena are in the solution.
Logical Trial and Error
When I started playing, I had the idea that the feelings would somehow tie together. Like you couldn’t put Happy next to Sad. But I let go of that thought, as this is not what Feelings – Little Inner Monsters presents. Instead, you need to find the right combination of cards by trial and error. For example, by placing cards from different Arena’s on the first and second slot, you can figure out faster which Arena needs to be presented there: after all, the cards on the first and second slot have to be from the same Arena.
An overview is presented when you’ve solved the Enigma, showing you what cards you placed and the number of moves it took to reach the conclusion.
Lovely to Look at
Of course, your goal is to find the right combination in as few moves as possible. But aside from that, you are meant to enjoy the graphics as well. They are lovely! Cute and colorful, but should you be colourblind, then you can change the settings as well.
You can also access a diary in your game, in which you can store the result of your puzzle. You can add an image for your current feeling and write a little entry in the textbox about your inner feelings. Over time, it’ll give you a look back at your reflections and feelings as you go through gaming life.
This is a novel idea to add this diary part, and I like how Mens Sana Interactive makes feelings a topic. I do wonder though, if people will be tempted to trust their real feelings to this game on their computer.
Conclusion
Feelings – Little Inner Monsters is a good strategy card game. If you like Wordle or Mastermind, you will feel right at home with it. A lot of attention went to graphics, even in this free to play game. Mens Sana Interactive is planning to bring another card game to Steam based on the same characters, and this game is a sort of prelude.
If Feelings – Little Inner Monsters is a sample of what is to come, we will be on the lookout for the Little Monsters – Card Game!
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot