Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle (Nintendo Switch) Review

Jason Voorhees is such a cute boy, at least according to his mother, who, by the way, is just a severed head, and who is there to give him some tips on how to complete his job. What does that include? Why, impaling, slashing, stabbing, beheading, and, generally, having some good time with the fortunate people who will have the luck to stand near the lovely giant.

The catch? Being the over-zealous puzzle-solver that he is, once he starts going towards a direction, Jason simply can't stop unless he hits a wall... or a fellow human being. In other words, Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is nothing more than a "sliding" puzzle whre you must think how to lead Jason towards his victims by manipulating the grid-based, boxy environment.

Each stage is basically a small, isometric room, with the difficulty increasing slowly but steadily as you go further into the game, as new mechanics are thrown into the basic recipe, whether that's cops who can shoot you, water where Jason drowns, and then some. The catch is that, after killing his final victim, another one will appear on top of an 'X' mark, which is visible from the very start, giving the player the opportunity to think ahead, as all that work can be thrown out of the window if only focusing on everything but that 'X.'

The good news is that, besides all puzzles being enjoyable, they also don't overstay their welcome, with each stage being a tad harder, but not necessarily longer - and if everything fails, there's a neat rewind button that lets you undo your steps, complete with a VHS rewinding effect. Speaking of which, for something so simple, Killer Puzzle looks very good, and, due to its cartoony design, ends up being more cute than violent, despite all the carnage that ensues - although Slayaway Camp was a bit better at handling the silly aspect of it all.

Those who want to do their puzzle-solving without any bloodshed, there's always a nice little toggle off option... cowards! In terms of content, there are over 100 levels on offer, with more mechanics being added at frequent intervals, and, for those who are into collecting, there are new weapons to gather, although these just slightly alter the murder mini-cut-scenes. There's only one flaw here - well, not exactly a flaw, just a reason why this, while definitely fun, can't really be considered a classic.

That "flaw" is simply the fact that, once completing a stage, there's absolutely no reason to return to it ever again. Again, this isn't really a big problem, but those who are looking for something with a higher replay value should think through their purchase a bit more carefully. One final side note: the Steam version is partially free, with about 60% of the episodes being relatively cheap DLC, while the Switch version offers the whole package at a price... a logical one, that is.