Discover Broken Lens Review: an engaging puzzle-adventure game with hidden secrets.
Table of Contents
Broken Lens Review – Has This Childishly Formidable Game Hit the Mark?
Introduction
Broken Lens is an intriguing puzzle-adventure game that blends the simplicity of childhood puzzles with more sophisticated, engaging gameplay. Developed by Team RUN, the game promises a captivating experience that appeals to both casual gamers and puzzle enthusiasts. After an early look at the game during the French Direct AGM, we delved deeper into its mechanics and design to bring you a comprehensive review. With its exclusive release on PC via Steam on July 22nd, it’s time to explore whether Broken Lens has met its ambitious objectives.
Test Conditions
For this review, we meticulously played through 100% of the six biomes available in Broken Lens on a PC via Steam. Although we managed to explore every biome, uncovering all five of the game’s hidden secrets eluded us, adding an extra layer of mystery to our journey.
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Game Overview: Lensy Home Phone
Broken Lens begins with a charming premise: a small robot, fresh off the factory line, gets struck by lightning during a storm. The lightning strike damages one of its lenses, altering the vision of its left “eye.” This sets the stage for a unique adventure where the robot must navigate various scenes, trying to distinguish reality from illusion through its fractured lenses.
Gameplay Mechanics
At its core, Broken Lens revolves around a seemingly simple mechanic: players must spot the ten differences between two nearly identical images. By holding down the mouse button, you can scroll through these scenes to find discrepancies. For instance, in one scene, you might need to identify the water level in a carafe.
Despite this straightforward concept, the game quickly ramps up in difficulty. The developers at Team RUN have designed progressively challenging levels across the six biomes. Each biome unlocks only after achieving specific in-game milestones, adding depth and engagement. The sixth biome, featuring a more narrative-driven ending, remains a closely guarded secret, offering a significant reward for dedicated players.
Structure and Flow
The structure of Broken Lens is both consistent and engaging. While it follows a somewhat formulaic pattern, each level introduces new elements and increasing difficulty to keep players invested. The game’s 60 levels are spread across six biomes, each with its own unique visual and thematic elements.
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Biomes and Levels
- First Biome: The initial levels serve as a gentle introduction, helping players get accustomed to the mechanics. Differences are relatively easy to spot, allowing players to build confidence.
- Second Biome: The difficulty begins to increase, with more subtle differences and additional visual clutter making it harder to identify discrepancies.
- Third Biome: By this point, players are required to pay closer attention to the environment. Differences might include minor changes in color or slight shifts in object positioning.
- Fourth Biome: The game introduces more dynamic scenes, with differences that might only become apparent through keen observation and patience.
- Fifth Biome: This biome ramps up the complexity significantly, with intricate scenes and harder-to-spot differences. Players must use all their acquired skills to progress.
- Sixth Biome: The final biome, unlocked through specific achievements, offers a narrative-rich experience with a “real” ending. It drastically changes the game’s color palette, staging, and dramaturgy, introducing new characters and a satisfying epilogue.
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Aids and Assistance
To ensure the game remains accessible, Team RUN has incorporated several aids to help players. For example, you can progress to the next level after finding just five errors in a scene, allowing players to move forward even if they struggle with particular differences.
Moreover, players can zoom in to meticulously search for tiny discrepancies. Broken Lens also offers in-game help, enabling players to highlight areas with potential errors. The size of the highlighted area can be adjusted based on the player’s preference, providing a customizable difficulty level without affecting achievements.
Achievements and Rewards
Broken Lens features an extensive achievement system designed to reward various actions. This system encourages thorough exploration and provides additional layers of replayability. The achievements range from using in-game help to finding all errors and uncovering the lost pages of a mysterious book.
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Key Achievements Include:
- Using In-Game Help: Rewarding players for strategic use of aids, with achievements for minimal use as well.
- Finding All Errors: Encouraging players to meticulously examine each scene and discover all discrepancies.
- Uncovering Lost Pages: Challenging players to find all 50 hidden pages, which form a cryptic journal.
- Discovering Secrets: Rewarding players for uncovering the game’s five hidden secrets.
Visual and Auditory Design
One of the standout features of Broken Lens is its unique visual style. The game’s graphics are colorful and evocative, with each scene capturing a freeze-frame of specific events. The biomes offer a variety of settings, from bustling robot-filled environments to serene natural landscapes, ensuring each level feels fresh and engaging. This artistic approach, credited to EncreMécanique, ensures that every moment in the game is visually appealing.
The sound design is equally impressive, featuring a mix of calming and epic music that enhances the overall experience. French composer Yomoeh has crafted a soundtrack that supports both the relaxing and dramatic moments in the game. However, we did encounter occasional bugs with music triggering, resulting in some levels being eerily silent.
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Challenges and Secrets
While the gameplay is accessible, uncovering all the game’s secrets requires significant effort. Players must find 50 pages of a cryptic book hidden across the levels. These pages form a journal that explains movements and interactions necessary to uncover the game’s ultimate secrets. The cryptic nature of these pages adds a layer of challenge that might be too demanding for some players.
Additionally, Team RUN has hidden five secrets throughout the levels. Players must manipulate the environment and play melodies on a strange piano to uncover these secrets. These hidden elements reveal more about the little robot’s backstory, adding depth to the narrative.
Example Secrets:
- Piano Melodies: In certain scenes, players can interact with a piano to play specific melodies that unlock hidden areas or reveal secrets.
- Environmental Manipulation: By interacting with various elements in the scene, players can trigger hidden events or uncover concealed items.
- Hidden Pathways: Some secrets require players to find hidden pathways or manipulate the scene to reveal new areas.
Bugs and Technical Issues
While Broken Lens is generally smooth, we did encounter some bugs, particularly with music triggering and level loading. However, these issues did not significantly impact the overall experience. The game’s performance is stable, with minimal lag or crashes, ensuring an enjoyable gaming experience.
Common Bugs:
- Music Triggering Issues: Occasionally, the background music fails to trigger, resulting in silent gameplay moments.
- Level Loading Delays: Some levels take longer to load, causing brief interruptions in gameplay.
- Minor Graphical Glitches: Infrequent graphical glitches, such as flickering objects, were observed but did not affect gameplay.
Replayability and Longevity
Broken Lens offers substantial replayability, thanks to its achievement system, hidden secrets, and varied biomes. Players can revisit levels to find missed errors, uncover hidden pages, and achieve a 100% completion rate. The game’s relaxing nature and lack of competitive pressure make it ideal for multiple playthroughs.
Estimated Playtime:
- Main Storyline Completion: 5 to 6 hours
- All Errors Found: 7 to 8 hours
- All Book Pages and Secrets: 10 to 12 hours
Future Potential
While Broken Lens is currently exclusive to PC via Steam, its design and gameplay mechanics make it a strong candidate for porting to other platforms, such as the Nintendo Switch. Such a move would expand its audience and enhance its accessibility.
FAQs
Q: How long does it take to complete Broken Lens?
A: Completing the main storyline and finding half of the errors will take about 5 to 6 hours. To uncover all 600 errors and finish the adventure, expect 7 to 8 hours. Collecting all 50 book pages and uncovering all secrets may take 10 to 12 hours.
Q: Is there a competitive mode in Broken Lens?
A: No, Broken Lens is designed to be a relaxing, non-competitive game with no timers or game-over scenarios.
Q: Can I play Broken Lens on platforms other than PC?
A: As of now, Broken Lens is exclusive to PC via Steam. However, a port to Nintendo Switch could be an ideal fit for the game in the future.
Q: Are there any in-game aids to help find differences?
A: Yes, players can use in-game help to highlight areas with potential errors. The size of the highlighted area can be adjusted, and using this feature does not affect achievements.
Q: What is the significance of the hidden book pages?
A: The 50 hidden book pages form a cryptic journal that explains movements and interactions necessary to uncover the game’s ultimate secrets.
Q: Are there any bugs in Broken Lens?
A: While the game is generally smooth, we did encounter some bugs, particularly with music triggering and level loading. However, these issues did not significantly impact the overall experience.
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Q: What makes Broken Lens unique compared to other puzzle games?
A: Broken Lens combines a simple yet challenging puzzle mechanic with a compelling narrative and hidden secrets, offering a unique blend of relaxation and engagement.
Q: Who are the key contributors to the game’s development?
A: The artistic style is credited to EncreMécanique, development to Hephep, and the soundtrack to French composer Yomoeh. Team RUN, the core development team, has brought this unique vision to life.
Q: What future updates or expansions can we expect for Broken Lens?
A: While no specific updates have been announced, a port to Nintendo Switch and additional biomes or secrets could be potential future developments.
Q: How does the Twitch integration work?
A: The Twitch integration feature allows streamers to involve their audience in finding errors or eliminating them through votes on keywords. This feature will be available at the game’s release and aims to enhance the community experience.
Q: Is there a narrative or story to follow in Broken Lens?
A: Yes, Broken Lens features a narrative driven by the little robot’s journey to distinguish reality from illusion through its damaged lens. The hidden secrets and book pages add depth to the story, revealing more about the robot’s backstory and the world it inhabits.
Q: What kind of music can players expect in Broken Lens?
A: The soundtrack ranges from calm, relaxing music to more epic, organic tunes that reflect the importance of certain scenes. Players can choose to play without “epic mode” to enjoy the relaxing music throughout the game.
Q: Are there any accessibility features in Broken Lens?
A: The game offers various aids, such as in-game help and adjustable highlighted areas, to assist players in finding differences. These features make the game more accessible without impacting achievements.
Q: How does the game handle inadvertent clicks?
A: Inadvertent clicks are penalized by blurring the player’s vision with black ink stains, which can be easily removed by passing the mouse cursor over them.
Q: Can players revisit levels they have completed?
A: Yes, players can revisit completed levels and view them in their entirety in a gallery within the selection menu, allowing them to appreciate the detailed artwork and search for any missed differences or secrets.
Q: What are the system requirements for Broken Lens on PC?
A: The exact system requirements can be found on the game’s Steam page, but generally, the game runs smoothly on most modern PCs with minimal issues during level loading and gameplay.
Q: What other puzzle games are similar to Broken Lens?
A: Players who enjoy Broken Lens might also appreciate games like “Monument Valley,” “The Room,” and “Hidden Folks,” which combine unique visual styles with engaging puzzle mechanics.
Q: How often are updates and bug fixes released?
A: Team RUN is committed to regularly updating the game and addressing any bugs or issues reported by players. The developers have been responsive to community feedback and aim to provide a smooth gaming experience.
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Q: Can I share my progress and achievements with friends?
A: Yes, players can share their progress and achievements through Steam’s social features. Additionally, the Twitch integration allows for interactive streaming experiences.
Q: Are there any plans for downloadable content (DLC) or expansions?
A: While no specific DLC or expansions have been announced, the game’s structure and success could lead to future content updates or additional biomes.
Q: How does the game handle player feedback and suggestions?
A: Team RUN actively engages with the player community through forums and social media, considering player feedback and suggestions for future updates and improvements.
Q: What inspired the development of Broken Lens?
A: The developers at Team RUN drew inspiration from classic puzzle games and children’s picture books, aiming to create a game that is both nostalgic and innovative.
Q: Is there a demo version available?
A: As of now, there is no demo version available, but players can find gameplay videos and reviews online to get a sense of the game before purchasing.
Q: What languages is Broken Lens available in?
A: Broken Lens is available in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese, to cater to a global audience.
Final Thoughts
Despite its occasional bugs and somewhat formulaic structure, Broken Lens is a charming and challenging game that offers a unique blend of puzzle and adventure. Its relaxing nature, combined with an engaging achievement system and hidden secrets, ensures that players will find plenty to enjoy.
Pros:
- Unique and charming visual style
- Engaging and progressively challenging puzzles
- Extensive achievement system
- Relaxing, non-competitive gameplay
- Intriguing hidden secrets and narrative depth
Cons:
- Occasional bugs and technical issues
- Some players might find the difficulty curve steep
- Limited to PC via Steam at launch
Verdict:
Broken Lens stands out as a delightful puzzle-adventure game that successfully balances simplicity and complexity. Its charming visuals, engaging soundtrack, and thoughtful design choices make it a must-play for fans of the genre. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing evening of gameplay or a challenging hunt for hidden secrets, Broken Lens offers an experience that is both satisfying and memorable.