Daedalian Opus (1990)

Developer: Vic Tokai
Publisher: SUNSOFT, Vic Tokai
Platforms: Game Boy
Genres: Puzzle, Strategy
Rating: 3.2 of 5, 1 player ratings

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More games like this

How it feels

Arrange pentomino pieces into specific shapes across 36 progressively trickier timed puzzles.

puzzle-heavymethodicaltetris-liketimedbrain-teaserslow-paced

About

The game is essentially a series of 36 jigsaw puzzles with Tetris-like pieces known as pentominos that must be assembled into a specific shape. The puzzles start off with rectangular shapes and simple solutions, but the puzzles quickly grow more complex, with odder shapes like a rocket ship, a gun, and even enlarged versions of some of the pentominoes themselves. Each level is timed, and once the timer is started it cannot be stopped until the level is finished. One starts off the game with only three pentomino pieces, and at the completion of each early level, a new piece is awarded to the player. At the final level, the player is given the 2x2 square O tetromino and must complete an 8x8 square puzzle. After completing each level, the player was given a password to access that level at a later time. Interestingly, each password was a common English four-letter word, so that by guessing common four-letter words, players could potentially access levels they had not actually reached by playing the game.

Screenshots

More games like this

More by Vic Tokai

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.