The Magical Sunflower is the newest game by German company, Enigma Fellowship. I have played all the previous games and enjoyed the mix of story and challenge. The creators reached out to me to playtest this game and I couldn’t turn this down. Unlike their previous games, this a print and play experience that can be played without technology (after printing it). In addition, all proceeds, until March 22nd, 2022, are being met and donated to UNICEF in support and aid of Ukraine at this time.
Story:
The story begins with Evil Eagle, who covets the magical sunflowers within the village of Sylasian. While Baron Theodore Von Puffington the Third, protector of Nirgendheim (in which this village resides) is away on vacation, the Evil Eagle decides this is the perfect opportunity to launch an attack on Sylasian to take control of the village and thus the sunflowers. Fortunately, the timing also coincides with your arrival in the land. You are taking up the gauntlet to help this village and you must stop the Eagle before he takes the city!
I personally enjoyed this story. It took a complex situation and applied it to a style of storytelling that is classic while also modernizing it. There was also a nice twist that I appreciated. The story is easy for children to grasp while also nuanced with symbolism for adults. This story is more set up as a fairy tale, much like their Magical Tale game, where as you read you are stopped to confront the challenge in a form of a puzzle. Once you have the answer (you check the solutions page) you can continue reading. You could technically read this without the puzzles but I would say the puzzling adds the experience and makes the progression more meaningful. The ending of this game is also poignant and provided a powerful message.
Puzzling:
As for puzzling, I thoroughly enjoyed these puzzles from the beginning. These are not difficult puzzles but, rather, are more focused on tangibility. I found myself thoroughly writing on and around the puzzle. This helped reveal the solutions incrementally and made the solutions satisfying when I could finally see them. I also enjoyed the second half of the game's puzzle structure where each solution would guide you to the next puzzle and so on and so forth. Though, be careful of red herrings! I felt this was an excellent set up for this game because it really ensured you had to complete puzzles in a certain order to gain extra secrets. These puzzles had layers that, on the surface, you may not notice because the appear relatively straightforward but, as you progress, show a love of detail by the creators. I particular enjoyed the first puzzle and the last puzzle. I giggled as I played because it truly felt fun!
Customer Service:
In terms of customer service, this game was gifted to me as a play test. Their hint system is still under construction but seeing it now, I love the clever way they made it so you can easily print them to play offline without being given spoilers. They also don’t just hand you the solution so you can check your work without the answer being obviously displayed. They also provided an index for one puzzle that was extremely helpful.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, The Magical Sunflower is a wonderful fairy tale with engaging puzzles that focus on the fun of puzzles. I felt the story was well done and the puzzles complimented it. This puzzles are great for those playing with younger puzzlers, those looking for fun and light puzzling, and those looking for an hour and half of tech-less puzzling. In addition, you are supporting a good cause. Once again I am happy with my puzzling experience with Enigma Fellowship and can’ wait to see what more they make!
Check out The Magical Sunflower here!
Comments