Tangle Tower

 Switch
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 27
  3. Negative: 4 out of 27

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  1. MindWanderer
    Jul 1, 2022
    6
    There are three key components to a murder mystery: means, motive, and opportunity. You spend most of the game on the first of these. You never establish opportunity: one suspect lies about their alibi and you never prove otherwise. Motive is never even touched on until the end, and it has to be spoon-fed to you because there aren't any clues at all. So as a murder mystery, it's veryThere are three key components to a murder mystery: means, motive, and opportunity. You spend most of the game on the first of these. You never establish opportunity: one suspect lies about their alibi and you never prove otherwise. Motive is never even touched on until the end, and it has to be spoon-fed to you because there aren't any clues at all. So as a murder mystery, it's very unsatisfying.

    The reviews of this game frame it as a puzzle game, but there are only about half a dozen puzzles in the game. You'll spend only a very small amount of your playtime on them. And if you're a fan of puzzle games, you won't find them remotely challenging. So as a puzzle game, it's also very unsatisfying.

    The bulk of the gameplay consists of talking to the suspects about each other and about the clues you find. Some of these are frustrating because they're gated behind certain other conversation options. For instance, one of the clues you find is a telescopic lens. If you've ever encountered a telescope or spyglass at any time in your life, you know what a telescopic lens looks like. And yet, when one character calls it a microscopic lens, you can't challenge them on it until you show it to one specific other character first. Several of them know what type of lens it is, but only one of them triggers the dialogue option. The game has several of these, which force you to show arbitrary items to arbitrary characters to make progress. So as an interview/point-and-click game, it's again very unsatisfying.

    I will say that the art, world-building, and voice acting are top notch. And the writing is also great except that the murder mystery part of it doesn't make a ton of sense. That's not enough for me to be able to recommend this game as a game, though.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

22
#22 Best Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Gaming Age
    Sep 15, 2020
    91
    Tangle Tower is built around an excellent whodunit mystery that moves along at just the right pace. There’s a great balance of plot, puzzle, and humour, and it does a good job of keeping you invested all the way to the very end. In this respect, you could say that the game carries on in the traditions of the very best adventure games from a few decades ago — but it manages to do so in a way that feels undeniably fresh.
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  2. Cubed3
    Dec 16, 2019
    90
    Charming, original, and terrifically paced, Tangle Tower is a strong contender for the best point-and-click adventure of 2019. Puzzles require real wit without bogging readers down with irrelevant information. Each screen is filled to the brim with detail, blending colour and lighting into a living, breathing tower. Only a few hours long with a gripping mystery at the centre of its plot, Tangle Tower is a must play for fans of the genre.
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  3. Switch Player
    Nov 22, 2019
    80
    Tangle Tower is a pleasure to play. An interesting story, well-crafted gameplay, and a brilliantly diverse cast of characters marred only by small faults here and there still make it an easy recommandation for adventure game fans.
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