Pyramids 2 (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Pyramids 2 starts off quickly. No tutorials, no handholding. It is self-explanatory what to do, just like a good game should be, and even without the tutorial it does not take long to understand the controls, plus the stages are well designed to allow for self learning as they introduce new elements in a slow and steady pace, never overwhelming players.

The goal in Pyramids 2 is to collect an ancient treasure and leave the pyramid to advance to the next level. Besides that there are alternative objectives on each stage that need to be fulfilled in order to get additional stars that are used to unlock new areas. There are three stars to be gained every time, one being given for collecting all the gold, another for finishing within the time limit, and so on, giving a certain degree of replayability.

The level design, combined with the game design, also pretty often allows several possible solutions to the same level, some being better than other, which lets the creativity loose. This is important in a puzzle game as levels that are too streamlined often make the mind dull, something that should be avoided.

There is, however, a minor issue with the design, and that is that the difficulty curve is very uneven. It is okay if the mechanics are easier to not overwhelm the player, but some zones are straight out too easy compared to what is expected that late in the game. The difficulty curve is stable overall but there are too many levels that are easier than they should be, which creates unevenness. It is nothing severe, but is certainly noticeable.

The best feature in Pyramids 2 is its level editor. This allows for free creation that can be shared with others via QR codes. This leads to increased longevity for a wider variance of levels to play. As the game very fluidly introduces new elements, the level building aspect becomes more obvious, and it is very quick and easy to design personalised tricky stages in Pyramids 2 to share amongst friends and other gamers.

Overall, Pyramids 2 is a very solid entry into its genre. It is nothing exceptional or extraordinary but does what it does very well and delivers a full experience that might last long if the level design suits the player's taste. However, if level editing is not interesting, then the game might turn out to be too short. Nothing too bad, though, but its length is highly based around the level editor.