Legend of Grimrock and the Joys of Coherent Design
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To play Grimrock is to experience the joy of experimentation and learning. This is the rare and precious game that stands out of the way and allows the player to play and learn autonomously. Each new area teaches you about a new element or prompts you to make one new discovery. There is a pleasant alternation between of adversity and triumph. (I've got these spiders all figured out,) I said to myself, five minutes before I was surrounded by spiders and killed.
The game is tough, but very fair. While party-building would be much improved by a more clear and flexible system of stats and skills, your starting party will probably manage just fine. While not perfectly balanced, most parties are viable and all skills are at least useful. Players who find themselves wishing for a better axe know that they have only themselves to blame for not finding it. Players who cringe that they have not learned how to cast their next spell have failed to properly consider the simple, coherent syntax of the rune-based spell system.
