Terraforming Iowa by Arthur Wohlwill is a unique, quick, tile-shifting puzzler that I found to be both engaging and intriguing. It is a single player game (recommended age of 10 or older), with a play time of roughly 15 minutes. In this solo player only game, you will move tiles around a board in an attempt to create paths to score the most points. At the time of this posting, the free print and play version can be found at this link: Terraforming Iowa.
Let's step into the review.
Quality - N/A - This is currently set as a print and play document, so the quality is really up to you, dependent upon the materials you use to print it out.
Artwork - 4/10 - This game is solo published, and uses basic art (from the Noun Project) to convey the game's principles. Given that, there is not a need for complex art in order to help the player maneuver through the game's mechanics, so the art does the job it needs to do.
Theme - 6/10 - In Terraforming Iowa, you (the player) are in the state of Iowa, where a recent major earthquake has occurred. The town you are in has been disrupted, and it is your job to build roads to connect outlying farms to the town so that they can delivery their goods to the stores there. Your goal is to accomplish this task while using as little energy as possible. I thought this theme was unique, and not one I've seen before. It does a good job at conveying the game's setting and your goal as a player. While not overly complex, the game's mechanics don't call for any further connection to the theme.
Learnability - 7/10 - This game is very easy to learn, while still being a challenge to play. While there were some areas of the game's instructions that could have been a bit clearer, I was able to pick it up within a minute or two.
Weight - 9/10 - I love the challenge that this game presents. It seems simple at first, but is full of decision points that require strategic thinking with each move. I lost the first several games at the basic level of difficulty, which I love. If a game takes awhile to understand how to best strategize within it, I find myself drawn back more to try to figure it out. One other cool part about this game is that you can scale it easier or more difficult by just adding a simple change to the scoring mechanics, for as much or as little as you need. It is a quick and easy change that produces results that are different enough that you can truly adjust this game to be exactly as much of a challenge that you want it to be. The complexity, therefore, is enough to be a challenging puzzle for the avid gamer, or a fun pick-up for the casual player.
Engagement - 8/10 - Terraforming Iowa requires strategic thought that determines not just your current move, but how it will effect the next several moves after that one. As a result, I found myself very focused and engaged in deciphering the best approach to progress in the game. This game was one to pause and think about, certainly.
Decisions - 9/10 - Each decision in this game was hugely impactful. While it was not overly complex in terms of the type of decisions you make, the entire game was centered around each decision that you make, with your success or failure hanging on each move. I loved the level of player agency that created within the game.
Mechanics - 7/10 - I thought this was a clever take on a tile-shifting puzzle. As you move tiles, you have to consider not only their effect on your progress towards making paths, but also the energy it takes to move them. Because of the way tiles stack, this also reduces the options available and increases the potential that further moves will cost more energy. I love the way this prompts strategic thought.
Solo Play - 8/10 - This game is designed specifically to be a solo game. As a result, its structure and strategy are highly customized for a single person. The game itself is fairly simple in nature. However, it is by no means easy. It is a good challenge and one that I found I could put on the table quickly and get a few games in within a 15-20 minute time frame. The single player nature of the game also meant that I never felt pressure to hurry through my decisions. I was able to move slowly, with as much care as I wanted, through each decision.
Shared Play - N/A - Terraforming Iowa is a single player only game, so this category is not applicable.
Replay Value - 8/10 - This game is different each time you play it because the setup is different each time. When you begin the game, you shuffle the tiles and lay them out, all oriented in a particular direction. This results in each game requiring different moves, strategies, and decisions in order to obtain your goal. Through several plays of Terraforming Iowa, I did not encounter the same or similar puzzle twice, nor do I imagine that I would after many more plays as well.
Overall, I found Terraforming Iowa to be a good puzzle and an excellent filler for when you only have a few minutes, or for when you don't want to hassle with a lot of intricate pieces or complex, multi-faceted strategies. I like the ability to adjust the difficulty of the game through scoring criteria. I think it was engaging, had mechanics that I found unique and refreshing, and was something that I will keep on my game shelf to bring out again from time to time.
Overall Rating 3.7/5.0
Keep playing, friends.
(Disclosure: Arthur Wohlwill provided me with a copy of Terraforming Iowa in exchange for an unbiased review.)
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