Lines (PC) Review

Lines is all about controlling the environment. The first set of levels available requires you to place at least one dot somewhere on the board. That dot fills the board, like paint in a gutter. On the board is another dot, which is not the player's colour. Once the player's dot is placed, both dots will fill the board. Your objective is to have the longest of the lines.

Other modes vary the formula, but the central goal of having the longest line is the same. Eraser mode has all the dots laid out, requiring you to pick dots to remove. Cut mode is all about placing gashes in the path of other colours to limit their reach, while another mode requires adding new paths to give your colours a better advantage.

Because of the random placement of nodes each time a new attempt is made, there's a lot of variety and replayability. Lines really pushes replaying levels, as completing them multiple times in a row with success unlocks certain rewards. Altogether, there are 250 levels to play through, and each needs to be conquered several times in a row.

While each mechanic, and the final set that combines all the mechanics, is pretty enticing, the mental fortitude required is just enough to scratch a cerebral itch. This doesn't last very long, though, as the stages don't really add much difficulty. Really, the list of levels acts more like a track list. The rules change a bit between each level in each mode, and the layout is different each time, but the challenge is based solely on those qualifiers.

This means that while a level might initially appear harder, the next try could be much easier. This cheapens the experience greatly, as the difficulty never feels consistent. There is a calmness to the experience, though, that seems to balance this out, but digging out those additional nuggets of fun still feels cheapened when trying to beat a level multiple times in a row.