Introduction
The Doors games are a series of mobile, point and click, puzzle games, including Awakening, Origins and Paradox. Each game contains a set of “islands” with a prominent locked door in its middle that you must unlock to advance. But to unlock these doors, you must go through a series of puzzles involving items, finding codes, and interacting with the environment!
Developer: Snapbreak Games
Released: November 2020 – September 2021
Price: 8 levels free with ads, $4.99 for each game
That sounds straightforward. Just unlock doors! Or is it?
Each level of the Doors games includes a set featuring a door standing in the middle of a usually circular shaped island that is locked or blocked either by simple locks or complicated and intricate puzzles. To unlock the doors, you need to inspect each and every nook and cranny to find items such as switches, levers, parts, and tools, and then combine them with other elements or items to access even more items. This can include using a crowbar on a crate to access its contents or solving a whole puzzle to obtain the keycode to a locked briefcase with an important item. At the end of each puzzle, you unlock the door, travel through an interdimensional portal, and move to the next one.
In addition to the main puzzles, each level includes two gems which are either obvious and easy to spot or hidden in other areas of the set and unlock access to epilogue levels. As well, each level contains a letter, which give a minimal and mysterious backstory to each game.
Although most levels tend to be short, nearly all puzzles are engaging and easy to figure out, meaning the Doors games are excellent for casual, relaxing gameplay. All interactable items are easy to tell apart from the scenery and have a purpose in contributing to the solution of each puzzle, and are used in ways that make sense, such as by visual cues like keyholes, or contextual actions such as using hammers to break open vases.
How do the puzzles look?
The Doors games are visually appealing and sometimes even lively, with little details like flickering lights, rippling water, moving mechanical contraptions, and more. The games strike a balance between performance and graphical fidelity, meaning it is sure to run without major issues even on mid-ranger phones from previous years while still looking gorgeous.
The sound effects are plentiful. Almost all actions produce sound such as turning valves and rolling boulders, which add greatly to the immersion of the Doors games. The music is non-intrusive as well, with an ambient soundtrack for Awakening and a more environmental score for Paradox.
In Conclusion
Doors Awakening, Doors Origins and Doors Paradox are satisfying puzzle games that are perfectly suited for the mobile platform. Sporting fantastic visuals and settings, as well as simple gameplay, the games are delightfully fun to play. If you want to try the games out before buying, you can play the first eight levels in each game for free with ads.
If you want more puzzle titles, why not take a look at these?
GNOG – Sword Slinger – Golf Peaks – RiME – The Pedestrian