In a word pretentious, in another tedious.

This game has intentionally poor UI that causes endless tedious menu navigation, no back button, no ability to exit puzzles without inputting a solution, gameplay segments with even worse navigation controls. All this in service of "ambiance" and "theme", this is effective for all of 10 minutes before the frustration of the UI overwhelms any interest in the games ideas and story.

The puzzles themselves are a mixed bag. About 60% are immediately obvious on first sight or connect directly to some scrap of paper found elsewhere. 25% fall into the frustrating "what am I thinking" category where if you aren't exactly on the same page as the puzzle designer you will have no idea whats being asked of you. The remaining 15% are actually interesting/challenging enough to be worthwhile.

Unfortunately, many of the puzzles are mechanically annoying to interact with. In some cases the clue is a 3 minute walk away from where you need to input the solution, meaning you have to trudge back and forth while attempting to figure it out, with every failed attempt increasing your frustration. Other puzzles require inputting long strings of complex info in row or having to guess at a cardinal direction to use as a frame of reference, meaning in many occasions you will struggle to solve a puzzle even when you know the solution.

You can't ever access the in game reference log while solving a puzzle, rendering it pointless. You have to manually transcribe everything the game "recorded" for you so that you can see it while interacting with the puzzle.

I can't shake the feeling that the designer has an immense amount of contempt for the player.

Very intricate puzzle box with a unique presentation and great atmosphere. Can be overwhelming at the beginning with the pile of unsolved puzzles that quickly accumulates, but once the pieces start to click together it is beautiful and satisfying to follow them to the end.

- The answer to half of the puzzles is 1847.
- I am now stuck trying to advance the game by waiting 20+ minutes for maze men to spawn
- The story is pretentious nonsense

Just do your self a favor and play a better puzzle game like Blue Prince.