Playing A Game Shenzhen I/O PC

Compared to Infinifactory and TIS-100, I am blazing through Shenzhen I/O. Less because I'm compelled by the fun, and more because I'm already familiar with its challenges.

Since I last wrote about Shenzhen, the puzzles have become more nuanced and elaborate; the premise of each one is intriguing, as are the narratively-appropriate components and peripherals. Thematically, these puzzles do a great job of building on TIS's image-plotting puzzles, by making the output values feel meaningful and cool.

However, these unique twists almost never factor into what makes the puzzles difficult. And what does make them difficult is disappointingly familiar: limited instruction space, and occasionally, limited input/output ports.

Yup -- the exact same things that stymied me in TIS-100. It's still entertaining, but ... not as satisfying as new challenges would be.

I've also got mixed feelings about Shenzhen's faux-desktop interface, which is Zachtronics's most visually-appealing UI yet, but is click-heavy and obtuse to actually use. And the email-based storyline, which sometimes feels like it's subtly building up to something, but is so subtle that I wonder if I'm just imagining it.

I'm having enough fun with the puzzles to keep going, but it certainly feels like the weakest Zachtronics release so far.

Progress: "Electronic Door Lock"

Rating: Good