Here’s a riddle for you: what’s harder than completing a puzzle? Making a good one. It’s a puzzle in itself to get these games right. You want the challenge, and even frustration, to feel justified. You want something that feels good to get right immediately, but also has levels you won’t mind roughing it out in. When you have the type of game where you know a hint will help, but you’re not frustrated enough to give in to it, that’s something special.

Available for the Nintendo Switch and PC, Where Cards Fall puts all the pieces together in almost all the right ways. Playing on the former, it’s incredibly easy to fall into a comfortable loop of dropping in and out of its isometric puzzles. The gameplay of crafting traversable, jigsaw puzzle-esque structures, built from different types of card decks (houses of cards, if you will), is equal-parts fresh and approachable. The enticing cycle of getting a solution or thinking you’re about to get one, taking a break, putting it down, and picking it right back up is worth having to deal with any of its minor flaws.

The simple mechanics of building regularly get amplified with new structure types and elemental factors over the game’s 50 puzzles. It is very effectively-paced to build on its existing elements without feeling like the core conceit or simplicity is sacrificed. Even when the challenge is real, there is a great sense of exploration and of being able to mess with the mechanics without penalty.

Even if you don’t know how to do something, the game always feels like it rewards both experimentation and critical thinking. If by chance you do get too far down a dead-end or make things too complicated for your own good, there’s always a restart button to clear the slate. It’s all packed together in a charming art style that really lends itself to (and feels like a natural extension of) the gameplay. A triangle embellished, house-like deck will sprout up into the stratosphere, only to be knocked over by cartoonish squiggles of wind.

Your character will gingerly leap onto a card-made platform with a brazen lack of worry. A large space will soon become covered with face-down cards as you set the foundation. It blends well with the exceptional soundtrack and use of audio cues. You can really feel when a structure comes crashing down due to the wind, or when a new structure is rising up into existence. In particular, the note that plays when a solution to a level has been achieved is pure, uncut bliss.

What’s maybe most particular about the whole presentation is the storyline. A decent bit of the game is spent watching cutscenes, which have the notable choice of using no intelligible dialogue. While it may at times seem like a weird choice, and admittedly some of the story beats feel a little flat or drawn-out, you’ll come away with your own view on what plays out. This wordless coming-of-age story invites you to reflect on the formative moments of your own life. Thematically, that really fits with the idea of playing with the hand you’re dealt.

While it never comes crashing down, you’ll likely get a few minor paper cuts along the way. Sometimes the perspective simply won’t play nice with what you want to do. Other times, selecting and cycling through the decks feels more cumbersome and resistant than you’d like. You may also find that a solution ends up dependent on a slight movement or meticulously lined up jump that feels at odds with the presentation. Yet even with its minor issues, the experience overall feels like finding an ace in a game of 52 card pickup.

Here’s one last riddle to leave you with. What’s a really good game that deserves your time and money? From novices to season thinkers, there’s something here to appeal to every level. Even if you’ve written off the genre as being too heady, for the hours of affordable gameplay, don’t hesitate to charge it to your card. Don’t let it get shuffled into the mix of other games released this year and forgotten.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Where Cards Fall was provided by The Game Band for this review. 

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Where Cards Fall

$19.99

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Approachable yet challenging.
• Great, and greatly realized, visuals.
• Isn't afraid to dedicate time to its story.
• Provides options for help/assistance as needed
• Excellent pacing and incorporation of new elements.

Cons

• Story can be a little flat in parts.
• The perspective and mechanics can be at odds with the gameplay at times.