PixelLinkr #151: The Story Behind the Puzzle

Mars First Logistics asks players to build a rover for cargo that refuses to behave. A box is easy. A long pipe is a philosophy exam with suspension damage.

---

🟢 Easy: Courier deliveries drive play

Games: Mars First Logistics · Deliver At All Costs · Postmouse · Easy Delivery Co.

Ian MacLarty built Mars First Logistics around modular rovers and awkward objects. The package can swing, roll, or drag the vehicle into a crater. Successful delivery feels less like driving and more like winning an argument with gravity.

Deliver At All Costs adds destructive streets. Postmouse gives the postal route to a small mouse. Easy Delivery Co. drives through snowy mountain towns with a title that becomes funnier every time the truck slides.

---

🟡 Medium: Archaeology drives exploration

Games: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle · The Excavation of Hob's Barrow · Curious Expedition 2 · La-Mulana 2

MachineGames made Indiana Jones an archaeologist who can punch fascists between site visits. The Great Circle understands that the hat, notebook, and suspicious wall mechanisms matter as much as the fist.

Hob's Barrow turns one excavation into folk horror. Curious Expedition 2 sends expeditions after artifacts while supplies vanish. La-Mulana 2 fills Eg-Lana with ruins that expect the player to take notes rather than wait for a glowing marker.

---

🔵 Hard: Courtroom trials drive play

Games: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law · Bohemian Killing · Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice · Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law uses the structure Capcom made famous with Ace Attorney: investigate, gather evidence, then cross-examine witnesses. The main difference is that the lawyer is a cartoon superhero with wings and an alarming client list.

Spirit of Justice adds Divination Séances to its contradictions. Danganronpa V3 turns class trials into rapid-fire debates and logic games. Bohemian Killing lets the accused shape flashback testimony in an attempt to influence the verdict.

The courtroom is the play space, not a cutscene between investigations. Evidence becomes ammunition. A weak answer can undo an hour of careful snooping, usually while someone points hard enough to injure a shoulder.

---

🟣 Tricky: Wall-running defines traversal

Games: Cyber Hook · Lemma · GTTOD: Get to the Orange Door · Cloudbuilt

Cloudbuilt gives Demi a rocket suit and a collection of walls that seem briefly horizontal if approached with enough nerve. Momentum decides which surfaces become routes.

Lemma builds first-person navigation around wall-runs. Cyber Hook adds a grappling hook and time manipulation. GTTOD turns the same movement into a neon FPS sprint.

The wall stops being an obstacle and becomes a lane, often a faster one than the floor. The only unreasonable object is the player who slows down.

The con artists in today's CineLinkr puzzle also rely on momentum and nerve, but their insurance premiums are probably lower.