Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise (PC) Review

The simple, placeholder plot of Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise follows you, as the titular, faceless/genderless protagonist, on your quest to stop the cloak-and-dagger gal known as Ruby La Rouge, before she… does bad things, or something. The story, which is divided between five chapters (and is predictable as hell), is obviously not the game's strongest point, but it achieves giving you the required incentive to keep on playing until you catch this sneaky spy, one puzzle at a time - and there are plenty of them to solve in here. Varied? Not exactly. Yak & Co's little bundle of fun keeps things simple - and that's not necessarily a complaint.

Pretty much all puzzles fall under four categories: memory puzzles, like hitting the right notes on a piano after listening to the tune; trial-and-error puzzles, like finding the correct number sequence to unlock a door; "traditional" puzzles that require tinkering with a machine in a certain way; and, finally, investigation puzzles that revolve around searching around for clues in the environment, which will help you with finding a passcode. The last category is the best of the bunch (with memory puzzles being the worst) and it encompasses what's the most enjoyable thing here.

Agent A plays a lot like an 'escape room' puzzler, as the basic gameplay loop has you seeking clues and items hidden in all sorts of imaginative ways, both of which will be required to solve a puzzle. Doing so will lead to the next one in line, which will in turn force you to keep on searching for clues and items. Yes, there's plenty of running back and forth between locations, but it's all fast, with most areas being five or so mouse clicks away. Generally, this has a pleasantly simple, point-and-click control scheme that's easy to learn no matter how little experience with computers one has.

So, you push a button on the wall, which opens a panel, where you input a code, which activates a laser that you must point at a spot that unlocks a door, where one amongst four keys can be obtained, and so on and forth. One could call this title repetitive, as this is exactly what happens for the four to six hours that this mission will take you. It isn't though. The puzzles are definitely simple, and not exactly as tough as some would want them too. The developer, however, mostly focused on the fun factor, and provided a level of challenge that will need some thinking, but won't have you staring at a puzzle for too long. In other words you'll feel smart… without trying too hard.

While the gameplay is the most important thing in here, the available audio-visuals certainly help in immersing you into it all. This is a part of the game's DNA. Without it, this would simply be just another bundle of puzzles that you could find on a free mobile game. Being a spy adventure, the art style used here feels as if taken straight from a '60s fashion, or minimalist interior design magazine, and the music follows suit. It's also neat how the world changes in a very… James Bond way, with retro-futuristic gadgets found behind simple walls, and ordinary pieces of decoration.

Agent A is fun, relatively cheap, and beautiful. It's also great when played along with a friend… or a smartass, know-it-all, significant other (true story). Flawless? Not really. The last two chapters tend to need a bit more back-and-forth running than what's possibly acceptable, and the puzzles won't really satisfy "hardcore" puzzlers, especially since, while varied they aren't as varied as some would them to. Finally, once completed, this doesn't provide any reason to go back to it. These are nit-picks, however. Unless looking for something meatier, this is actually a very big recommendation.