TL;DR - Great game for a quick mind challenge!

Dawn of a Soul is a tricky mathematical puzzle game. It starts out straightforward and easy but the learning curve is steep and after only a couple of minutes your brain will start smoking. In a time when a lot of indie games are simple "pay to win" games this is a refreshing experience.

The visuals are great and very rewarding. Considering this has been developed by a single person makes the game even better!

Dawn of a Soul:
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Mathematics, let’s face it, is a very important part of any life. Some of us are blessed with a skill with numbers, and others (like myself) see mathematics as a curse to be avoided at all costs. Regardless of how you look at it, it’s part of our daily activities. So let’s make it fun, shall we? Let’s have a go at Dawn of a Soul!

Dawn of a Soul is a mathematical puzzle game where you have to connect numbers into a chain in order to reach a specific score and clear a level, collecting all shards to get your soul back.

The game has four different stages and sixty-four levels to clear, the first few being tutorials. In a nutshell, a shape made of nodes will appear on the screen. Some of these nodes might be of different colours, formats (eg. diamond, round) and have numbers in them. At the bottom of your screen there is a number displayed, which you have to reach by connecting the intersections together using a round marker. Well, it’s fine when you have to reach the number three by connecting three red nodes, each containing the number one. It becomes a little bit harder when the goal is in the hundreds and the shape has different colours of nodes. You’ll be able to connect nodes of different colours as long as you have connected intersections which give you a minimum equation of six. The value will be displayed around your marker. Each time you do manage to connect to a different colour, you’ll increase the multiplayer by one. Oh, don’t worry about keeping track of the big equation, it will also be displayed at the bottom of your screen. Most of the time, you’ll have to connect the intersections in one stroke. On some occasions, you’ll have a few more strokes at your disposal in order to reach the displayed number. Each time you clear a level, you’ll be rewarded with one or two shards.

The pixel graphics are well done and the game runs very well. It’s fun and easy to play.

Positives:
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- Nice pixel graphics
- Well designed-levels
- Easy to play
- Achievements

Negatives:
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- No trading cards

This is a fun, casual mathematical puzzle game for all ages. Give it a go!

6/10

Key provided by developer/publisher for review purposes. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own!

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This mathematical puzzle game has a very creative concept you would maybe expect on mobile platforms, but uses the PC's wider display for deeper in-depths mechanics and levels. It has an original approach on the casual-friendly puzzle genre by finding the optimal chain(s) in combining the numbered nodes and switching the colours on the right spot to increase the multiplier.

You don't need high mathematical skills to solve the puzzles, simply counting to a reasonable degree is all you'll need (the game keeps track of your equation in the bottom) and the routes are often quite intuitive. The final score you need to reach is given in any level, while often there is a second, lower score to move on to the next level and coming back later. New mechanics are added along the way, but always with very easy to learn tutorials. But make no mistake, the higher levels are very challenging and will need your focus to master them.

Finally, the visuals are beautiful for a little indie game. The pixel look is very well made with shiny particles around the nodes which results in a very satisfying feeling by building the chain while also maintaining a clear overview of the level.

If there is anything negative about the game, it would be the dialog based options menu, which may be casual friendly, but require more clicks (and time) than necessary if you are a savvy PC player. But once you're set, the ingame controls are fine.

I can highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for an original puzzle game.

For more puzzle game reviews, news and everything puzzle-related, follow Puzzle Lovers and check out our Steam group.

dawn of a soul is a neat number/line-drawing game. pick a starting point and select the necessary digits in the correct order to get the sum on the bottom and ultimately collect all the soul shards to get your soul back.

there are 64 puzzles. the first pack of 14 levels teaches the basics, only after that does level select open up with additional packs and more mechanics. some packs only unlock with enough obtained shards and after the prerequisite pack is finished, with the final one only when all previous levels are perfected. I always find this unfortunate, solving every level and perfecting about half should be enough to at least unlock everything. no level numbers anywhere is always annoying too, especially in a game all about numbers, come on.

levels consist of a bunch of connected and numbered nodes. they come in all sorts of colors and you can only switch from one to another after collecting 6 fragments (from a sum of 6, not necessarily 6 nodes) to charge the color-changing thingy. switching also ups the multiplier, so selecting 6 red 1s, then a yellow 1 becomes 14 (7x2).

mouse-only controls, no need for the keyboard, esc still brings up the menu. it's convenient that only the first number has to be clicked, then just move the cursor over the rest and finish with another left click (a premature second click obviously fails the level, confirming a lower value than necessary). going back on your selection is possible, as is undo with a right click, resets the whole line. a hint button is available sometimes, highlighting a not necessarily perfect starting point. shame it's not part of every level, you still have to figure out where to go from there anyway.

after learning the ropes, the game ceases to be a single-line puzzler, as levels won't always consist of an all-connected grid and you'll have a limited amount of moves (up to 4) to do the math. already completed turns can still be undone and higher goals also become a thing. reaching the lower one is good enough to continue but you'll want all the shards to properly finish the game. imperfect levels are marked on level select.

further mechanics are gray triangles, useless until a color gets passed onto them by removing a connected node. as a selection is made, affected gray nodes get highlighted. and diamond shards are like jokers or bridges, and as such, can't be in a starting position.

good enough pixel graphics and atmospheric audio. the unity launcher provides resolution options and windowed mode, not ideal but a common occurence in 2017 when the game came out and it's still better than nothing. inside the game you can turn music and sound on/off and change the language as part of the introductory dialog. neat idea and again, much better than automatically starting the game without a chance to adjust anything, as is also common. settings can be brought up anytime but they're still the same dialog stuff, not something less finicky. an animated lines toggle would've been good too. it's confusing enough to see what's connected to what sometimes and lines that won't stop moving certainly don't help.

it's a really cool game at a really good price, though obviously separate volumes, level numbers and proper in-game settings would've been nice. some perfect and even good enough solutions were too mathy or otherwise elusive or tedious to figure out on my own, but highly recommended stuff regardless, has a demo too.

This game will overclock your brain! Simple addition and multiplication? Oh no, nonononono. What you get here is a game that will teach you logical thinking, while you (a leftover ghost) try to win back your very soul from (I think) SATAN. Who made this game! You are playing a puzzle game from Satan. It surely is hard enough to be from hell. But everything here was done right. Music builds atmosphere, but let's you concentrate. Controls could be from a mobile version, but are easy and understandably besides the point. Visuals are the right amount of spooky and colourful but let you concentrate. The sounddesign is on point and enhances the controls quite well. The puzzles feel sooo good, when you solve them. 100% thumbs up! Go regain your soul now!
The hint system is obsolete in its current form, and I could use a better one with more hints... Satan...

EDIT: Turns out, Satan is a man (?) of his word and actually quite nice. At least in this game. Having retrieved my soul by the power of my external brain (the dev's walkthrough), I realized a mistake I made, that made puzzles quite unsolvable. Which was completely my mistake and not the games fault. DAWN OF A SOUL is a perfect example for good presentation. The game itself would be fantastic, but the presentation adds so much to it! Recommendations all around.

Follow my curator at http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28337205-Fair-Minded-Witness/?appid=701910

This game really works your brain in a good way. One of the most relaxing games I've played as well.

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I will leave this cat here, so that everybody who passes by can pet it and give it a thumbs up and awards
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　| (￣ヽ＿_ヽ_)__)
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Here I will leave the cat, friends passing by can pet it and give it likes and prizes
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀♡♡♡♡♡
　　　　　／＞　　フ
　　　　　| 　_　 _ l
　 　　　／` ミ＿xノ
　　 　 /　　　 　 |
　　　 /　 ヽ　　 ﾉ
　 　 │　　|　|　|
　／￣|　　 |　|　|
　| (￣ヽ＿ヽ)__)
　＼二つ
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