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Simply Puzzles: Junctions is a fairly easy logic-based puzzle game with rules and a feel that are akin to a simplified combination of Minesweeper and Sudoku. This is the kind of the mental state I found myself in--many times using given clues and processes of exclusion to progress my way through the puzzles.

The game is definitely casual by nature, and not too difficult to learn either. The rules set forth is that for every puzzle, you will have some junctions that tells you how many diagonal lines join up to those locations. You can only draw one diagonal line into each square, and you have to draw diagonals into all of the squares to complete the puzzle. The additional catch is that you cannot form any kind of closed loop with your diagonals on the board.

This game features 100 preset puzzles, all but around 20 I could complete through simple logic and process of elimination and just working my way around. There are some givens on each board, such as if you see a junction with a 0, there cannot be anything connected, likewise, a 4 means that all of the diagonals in the surrounding squares are set by default. There are some others, you can figure those out for yourself. Or use the developer-created Steam guide, if you get stuck.

What's nice about this game's set up is that all 100 levels are accessible from the beginning, you do not have to work your way in sequence. If you get stuck on one puzzle, you can just skip it and move on. It's similar to opening up a puzzle book, if you want to start with the harder puzzle, go for it. When you exit any puzzle unfinished, your progress within that puzzle is saved automatically, so you can have all 100 puzzles unfinished, in theory, and have a save in each one. You can also undo a number of moves while trying to problem solve, there is a limit, so you cannot keep backing up to the beginning, but you can clear the board any time.

You also have a very easy to use Mistake Checker tool that you can click on any time and it will display if any square you filled in is incorrect. If all that you filled in is correct, it will show you a square that you have yet to fill in. This is a good tool if you feel that simple logic is not enough and you want to give yourself an extra given square solved. This may be the case that you want to finish the puzzle but cannot do so on your own, or you are trying to get 100% achievements, I guess.

There are 10 achievements here, each one after you have solved 10 puzzles, in any order. So like I mentioned above, I got 8 out of 10 after playing all of the puzzles and giving each one a good honest effort. I have spent so far a little under 7 hours playing, and any more time would just be to fill in the remaining squares with a little AI help to get those last 2 achievements. Is it necessary? No. Will I do it? Not sure, maybe.


Logic puzzle where you fill in a single diagonal line through each of the square on the puzzle and they need to match the correct junction numbers present without creating any closed loops on the board.

Mouse is all you need. You can click near a corner within a square to place the matching diagonal into that square. You can click to remove it or click near another corner to place the other line in as well.

The game has a touch feature, which I did not test.

Simplistic.

Ambient music within. I was listening to other stuff while I played.

People wanting a casual puzzle-solving experience with very simple rules. There's no time limits, no counting how many mistakes you make, etc.

Base price is $2.99, so pretty reasonable. I would love to see a way that you can use the AI to generate randomly new puzzles on a grid size of your choice. That would be lovely. But 100 puzzles is enough, I suppose. I do want to see more after playing through everything already.

1. As above, a way to have the computer generate new puzzles, such as in Minesweeper would be wonderful and would keep me returning to play this game time and again.
2. The Tutorial button in-game is right next to the Mistake Checker, leading me to accidentally click it multiple times. And you cannot exit the tutorial without clicking through it. Albeit short, but still time consuming, given the time it takes for all of the text to show up, and to click through.

https://youtu.be/PmIso2uddTk

It's a fun, simple, and casual logic game. There are 100 levels, with a small portion that I cannot figure out by pure logic. Some guess work may be needed but the overall game functions well and has a mistake checking tool to quickly tell you about 1 mistake, so you can use that for guessing or helping yourself out. I wish there were more puzzles or a way to generate random sets of puzzles. But given the preset levels, you will get a few hours of good enjoyment.

I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.

[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote] [i]Simply Puzzles: Junctions[/i] is a fairly easy logic-based puzzle game with rules and a feel that are akin to a simplified combination of [i]Minesweeper[/i] and [i]Sudoku.[/i] This is the kind of the mental state I found myself in--many times using given clues and processes of exclusion to progress my way through the puzzles. The game is definitely casual by nature, and not too difficult to learn either. The rules set forth is that for every puzzle, you will have some junctions that tells you how many diagonal lines join up to those locations. You can only draw one diagonal line into each square, and you have to draw diagonals into all of the squares to complete the puzzle. The additional catch is that you cannot form any kind of closed loop with your diagonals on the board. This game features 100 preset puzzles, all but around 20 I could complete through simple logic and process of elimination and just working my way around. There are some givens on each board, such as if you see a junction with a 0, there cannot be anything connected, likewise, a 4 means that all of the diagonals in the surrounding squares are set by default. There are some others, you can figure those out for yourself. Or use the developer-created Steam guide, if you get stuck. What's nice about this game's set up is that all 100 levels are accessible from the beginning, you do not have to work your way in sequence. If you get stuck on one puzzle, you can just skip it and move on. It's similar to opening up a puzzle book, if you want to start with the harder puzzle, go for it. When you exit any puzzle unfinished, your progress within that puzzle is saved automatically, so you can have all 100 puzzles unfinished, in theory, and have a save in each one. You can also undo a number of moves while trying to problem solve, there is a limit, so you cannot keep backing up to the beginning, but you can clear the board any time. You also have a very easy to use Mistake Checker tool that you can click on any time and it will display if any square you filled in is incorrect. If all that you filled in is correct, it will show you a square that you have yet to fill in. This is a good tool if you feel that simple logic is not enough and you want to give yourself an extra given square solved. This may be the case that you want to finish the puzzle but cannot do so on your own, or you are trying to get 100% achievements, I guess. There are 10 achievements here, each one after you have solved 10 puzzles, in any order. So like I mentioned above, I got 8 out of 10 after playing all of the puzzles and giving each one a good honest effort. I have spent so far a little under 7 hours playing, and any more time would just be to fill in the remaining squares with a little AI help to get those last 2 achievements. Is it necessary? No. Will I do it? Not sure, maybe. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Logic puzzle where you fill in a single diagonal line through each of the square on the puzzle and they need to match the correct junction numbers present without creating any closed loops on the board. [h1]Controls[/h1] Mouse is all you need. You can click near a corner within a square to place the matching diagonal into that square. You can click to remove it or click near another corner to place the other line in as well. The game has a touch feature, which I did not test. [h1]Graphics[/h1] Simplistic. [h1]Music[/h1] Ambient music within. I was listening to other stuff while I played. [h1]Audience[/h1] People wanting a casual puzzle-solving experience with very simple rules. There's no time limits, no counting how many mistakes you make, etc. [h1]Pricing[/h1] Base price is $2.99, so pretty reasonable. I would love to see a way that you can use the AI to generate randomly new puzzles on a grid size of your choice. That would be lovely. But 100 puzzles is enough, I suppose. I do want to see more after playing through everything already. [h1]Where I Would Improve[/h1] 1. As above, a way to have the computer generate new puzzles, such as in [i]Minesweeper[/i] would be wonderful and would keep me returning to play this game time and again. 2. The Tutorial button in-game is right next to the Mistake Checker, leading me to accidentally click it multiple times. And you cannot exit the tutorial without clicking through it. Albeit short, but still time consuming, given the time it takes for all of the text to show up, and to click through. [h1]My First-Look Video (Spoiler: First 10 Levels)[/h1] https://youtu.be/PmIso2uddTk [h1]Conclusion[/h1] It's a fun, simple, and casual logic game. There are 100 levels, with a small portion that I cannot figure out by pure logic. Some guess work may be needed but the overall game functions well and has a mistake checking tool to quickly tell you about 1 mistake, so you can use that for guessing or helping yourself out. I wish there were more puzzles or a way to generate random sets of puzzles. But given the preset levels, you will get a few hours of good enjoyment. [quote]I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.[/quote]