This satisfying $7 mobile puzzle game is money well spent

If you’re looking for a new mobile game that’ll keep your hands busy and you have $7 to spare, Boxes: Lost Fragments is money well spent.

Developed by Big Loop Studios, Boxes: Lost Fragments is a moody puzzle game where players are tasked with opening 20 intricately designed, themed puzzle boxes, all while unearthing a creepy gothic narrative. If that sounds a lot like The Room series, it is. You can either read Boxes as a total ripoff or a respectful homage, but one thing is certain in either case: It’s extremely satisfying.

While Boxes originally dropped on PC in February ahead of an iOS port last week (Android is still coming), mobile is the ideal way to experience it. The concept is familiar: When I start, I’m given a mysterious box covered in latches, switches, buttons, and puzzles. It’s my job to open it up and get the mysterious fragment inside. I accomplish that through remarkably intuitive actions. While I see a latch, I naturally know to swipe my finger up to open it. When I find a screwdriver in one puzzle, I instantly know how to drag it to a screw and turn it to loosen it. It’s a tactile gameplay hook with little to no learning curve.

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Other puzzles get a little deeper, though Boxes never gets overly complicated. Its more about sleuthing out hidden compartments in boxes, finding items, and figuring out where they slot into the contraption. The more involved riddles, like using rotating contraptions to move symbols to their proper position, take a little more brainpower, but are rarely complicated enough to get frustrating. Boxes even includes a clear hint system that points to the next object that needs to be solved, as well as a Skip Puzzle button to bypass its trickier, execution-based puzzles.

It works especially well as