Energy Cycle
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Energy Cycle
Even though it's unlikely to be something that keeps you enthralled for long, when you take into account the game's fairly low price tag, it's still worth a look if you like these kinds of puzzles. It's also worth it if you're the type who likes to hunt Platinum trophies. Once people start uploading solutions to the puzzles online, you could easily blast through them all within a couple of hours. It definitely won't take you much effort before you'd get to hear that sweet, addictive ping of a shiny new Platinum trophy.
Energy Cycle is an oddity indeed. It is a bare bones game that only just scratches the surface in its gameplay. Repeatedly clicking orbs to music that will irritate you after five minutes is only interesting for a short while before you cave in from boredom, or push yourself to the end.
There's no tutorial to be found in this puzzle game that will likely be hard to grasp for most. Once you get the grip of the color-changing mechanics, it can easily become a rewarding puzzle experience. If you're a casual puzzle fan, look elsewhere: this is one of the toughest puzzling experiences out there. Tease your brain in a handful of dimensions.
Doing everything in its limited power to harm its decent concept, Energy Cycle ultimately becomes a Bohr-ing experience.
Balance the colorful orbs and satisfy your OCD in as few clicks as possible.
The bits I liked (multiple colours, classic puzzle gameplay) are completely overshadowed by those I don't. There is a severe lack of preset puzzles to keep me returning for more, a fact that two additional modes don't actually manage to compensate for.
There doesn't seem to be anything that makes Energy Cycle feel like a necessary entry into the puzzle genre. Even for fans of the core mechanic, there are plenty of alternatives in existence that look and play a lot better. Energy Cycle is, in truth, less barebones and more chalk outline, and doesn't add much more to the mechanic than a shining example of how not to do it.
If you are purchasing Energy Cycle purely for the trophies then you can expect a very short and easy platinum with no skill required, however, if you are buying the game in order to play it correctly and refrain from looking at guides or cheating then you will receive a fun little puzzle game.
