Crazy Belts (Mac) Review
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If you’ve ever wondered what happened to your luggage after it gets checked in at the airport, well – you likely won’t actually find that answer here. What you will get is a whimsical puzzle game that imagines a back room full of colorful belts and platforms that will send your luggage on the ride […]
If you’ve ever wondered what happened to your luggage after it gets checked in at the airport, well – you likely won’t actually find that answer here. What you will get is a whimsical puzzle game that imagines a back room full of colorful belts and platforms that will send your luggage on the ride of its life. Whether it makes it to its final destination is up to you – but you’ll definitely have your work cut out for you in the process.
Immanitas Entertainment is responsible for bringing this creative new game to various computer platforms, and they’ve managed to take a really simple concept and make it engaging and fun. The basic premise is really quite easy to pick up on, but it’s challenging to master right from the start. Basically, the luggage comes in different colors, and they need to end up in bins of the same color (green luggage goes to the green bin, and so forth). The luggage drops from the top of the screen, and the bins are at the bottom. In between are a variety of belts of various designs that will challenge you to keep things straight.
The belts move, which serves to get the luggage to its destination. Your main move is to simply click on the belts to change their direction when needed to ensure the bags are sorted correctly. Sounds simple, right? And it is, but things quickly get frantic. For one thing, the luggage drops from the top rather quickly, so if you take too much time with one bag you’ll get a jumble of them that is impossible to sort correctly. On top of that, multiple moving belts means that you’ll be frantically clicking back and forth as you try to keep things moving in the right direction – literally.
As you advance in the game, there are a number of things that will make that simple mechanic even more difficult. Moving belts that are adjacent to the side of the screen will send the bags out the other side of the screen if you aren’t quick enough, and various designs of belts will mix up how you need to move the bags. After all, a simple straight belt uses a different mechanic than a round, cog-shaped one and you’ll have to adjust your strategy accordingly. And just like at the real airport, there is VIP luggage to deal with as well. While you are able to miss a few of the regular bags and still make it through the level (although you won’t get as high a score), missing VIP luggage will put you right back to the start of the level – we wouldn’t want to lose the important luggage, now would we?
Crazy Belts is a colorful game with a happy vibe. The music is upbeat, the scenes are full of lots of colorful and some nice whimsical touches that does well to distract you from the fact that you are using your free time to sort luggage. It all adds up to a simple, colorful game that will genuinely challenge you and keep you on your toes. While it isn’t something you’ll likely want to marathon through, it is a lot of fun in shorter bursts that keep things fresh. Whether you’re the type to jet around the country or sit at home by the fire, Crazy Belts will have you sorting luggage like a pro, (and liking it, to boot).