The Edifice

5 star: (21) 4 star: (40) 3 star: (17) 2 star: (4) 1 star: (0)

Average Rating: Number of Ratings: 82 Write a review

- oddgrue (California), December 30, 2007

- Emily Boegheim, December 27, 2007

- Tyrog, December 14, 2007

- Stephen Bond (Leuven, Belgium), November 3, 2007

- Hauston (Seattle, WA), October 24, 2007

- Sami Preuninger (New York City), October 23, 2007

- Michael R. Bacon (New Mexico), October 20, 2007

Edifice is a short game that takes the player through the various stages of development of human civilization. The game stands out because it has the best puzzle I've seen in any game so far. The writing is solid but unremarkable, and the other puzzles are good, but the language puzzle is by far the reason to play the game.

In Edifice, the player begins as a caveman, and is faced with a puzzling edifice. The player must teach the caveman to use basic tools, to open a door in the edifice. Inside, there are stairways taking the player up to different levels, each one of which takes him to a new stage of the development of civilization. In each stage, he must advance the state of civilization by solving a certain puzzle that teaches his character how to do something.

The puzzle that makes the game is the language puzzle, in which the player must learn to communicate in the foreign language of an NPC. It is hard to describe, without giving spoilers, why this puzzle is so much fun, but I've found that it's simply the most satisfying puzzle of any game I've played.

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Baf's Guide

Starting as an early anthropoid, you find a mysterious stone structure that leads you to three crucial moments in the development of humanity, from tool use to the domestication of animals. Good prose, reflective of differing perceptions at the various levels of development. Satisfying puzzles, including one of the best and most interactive ones I've ever seen. The original release is quite buggy, so get the latest version.

-- Carl Muckenhoupt