I’ve always considered myself to have something of an interesting relationship with virtually every puzzle game I’ve played in the past. While I’ve most assuredly enjoyed such critically-acclaimed puzzle titles as Valve’s venerable Portal franchise, my levels of enjoyment were typically tempered with a moderate dose of frustration thanks to particularly difficult puzzles.

Because of that, I don’t actively seek out new puzzle games very often. However, when I see a puzzle game that looks like it might suit my tastes, I’m usually willing to at least give such a game a fair chance to impress me. That has happened several times since I began cultivating my Steam library several years ago.

During a Steam summer sale a couple years back, I happened to stumble upon a heavily-discounted, unique-looking puzzle game whose sense of humor and main gameplay mechanics seemed to be perfect for my tastes. The game in question is Life Goes On: Done to Death, developed and published by Infinite Monkeys Entertainment.

As I said a moment ago, the main gameplay mechanics present within Life Goes On appeal to my tastes for the most part, but I can easily see the game’s mechanics being considered too violent and/or morbid for some. Before we get into that though, let’s talk about why I think these violent mechanics work well within the context of Life Goes On.

The game’s plot is brief and simple. Essentially, a king who has far too many gullible knights at his disposal becomes determined to locate and retrieve something called the “Cup of Life,” which will presumably grant him immortality.

The king manages to find several potential leads as to the location of the Cup of Life, and he subsequently sends many of the aforementioned knights to these hazardous locations in the hopes that one of them will return with the king’s prize.

However, the king typically finds himself with considerably fewer knights than he originally had at his disposal following each excursion in search of the Cup of Life. This is where the main gameplay mechanic of Life Goes On comes into play.

You see, as part of your task to retrieve the Cup of Life, you must frequently utilize the lifeless bodies of the knights who were unfortunate enough to come before you to aid you in reaching each level’s goal.

For example, in the game’s first puzzle, you must intentionally instruct a small handful of knights to jump onto spikes so that their bodies create a safe path for another of your knights to reach the level’s end goal. As another example, some puzzles will require you to lead a knight to their death so that their body can hold down a button or operate a switch.

In each level, you can summon and control as many knights as you consider to be necessary, though the game challenges you to use as few knights as possible and reach each puzzle’s end goal as quickly as you can. Should one of your knights meet their demise, you can summon another instantaneously with the press of a button.

I think I’ve managed to illustrate by this point why some percentage of puzzle game fans might be turned away from Life Goes On, because of its rather violent gameplay mechanics. In fact, even the game’s Steam store page refers to Life Goes On as a “comically-morbid platformer.” That, in my experience, is quite an apt description.

To wrap this up in a nice little bow; Life Goes On has managed to hold my attention for quite a while because I greatly enjoy the unique challenges offered by its various puzzles. Sure, I might sometimes find myself exceptionally frustrated because I’ve been trying to figure out the same puzzle for fifteen minutes, only to end up inadvertently completing it a short time later. However, that has never tempered my enjoyment of this unique puzzle title.

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Life Goes On: Done to Death

$12.99 USD

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• Central Gameplay Mechanics Offer a Unique Spin During Puzzles
• Most Puzzles Are Generally Forgiving

Cons

• Gameplay Mechanics May Be Perceived as Violent
• New Puzzle Mechanics Can Be Introduced Randomly