Sawbuck Gamer

Corrypt

Sticky Fingers

Sokoban meets Fraggle Rock in the devilish Corrypt.

By Jason Reich • January 28, 2013

Sawbuck Gamer is our daily review of a free or cheap ($10 or less) game.

Corrypt
Creator: Michael Brough
Platforms: iPhone/iPad, Mac, PC
Reviewed on: Mac
Price: Mac, PC: Free; iPhone/iPad: $2

Want to see me panic? Ask me to decorate a room, hang some artwork, or park a car in a tight spot. My spatial reasoning skills are the pits. So unsurprisingly, Sokoban-style sliding block puzzles are not normally my jam. Crates are for taking cover or hiding medikits, not shoving around. And yet somehow, Corrypt got its pushy little mitts all over me, transforming the genre into an atmospheric adventure that encourages exploration instead of frustration.

That isn’t to say it’s not frustrating. Holy hell, some of these puzzles are tough. Corrypt ramps up the brain-melt factor by throwing in an additional twist: Not only does your toadstool-headed character push blocks around, he pulls them as well. Touch one and it fuses to you like a magnet, shifting other boxes along with it. Suddenly, wide open passages that looked easy become arrow-key-mashing exercises in getting out of your own way.

Hair-pulling aside, Corrypt is a pleasure. It’s a challenging mind-bender, enhanced by its clean layout and creepy subterranean vibe. Plus, you don’t have to worry about clipping some dude’s side mirror.

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  • Chum Joely

    OK, I guess today WON’T be the day when I start trying out as many Sawbuck games as possible during my lunch hour. The “Windows” download link at the indicated page is broken (“whatever.zip not found”).

    • stakkalee

      Strange – it worked for me.  What browser are you using?

      • Chum Joely

        Chrome Version 24.0.1312.56.  Doesn’t work in IE 9 either. Maybe my company’s firewall has some kind of problem with Dropbox. I wouldn’t be surprised.

        • stakkalee

          I use IE, and I tested in Chrome to make sure – both worked.  Stupid secure networks!  Definitely try it from home – the game has just the right amount of frustration.

  • Matthew Smith

    When you get to the magic – oh boy does it open up. At first it seems like a pretty generic puzzle game but it becomes something wonderful.

    I managed to get 5 of the score gem (there is 7 – have no idea where the other two were)

  • Bakken Hood
  • stakkalee

    I just beat this – holy Hell is it addictive!  The ‘magic’ component really opens things up, and after I thought I’d gotten myself stuck yesterday I just had a brainstorm and was able to teleport the last gem that was unreachable due to my own actions into a room where it WAS reachable!