Strata

Everything about this hurts my brain in the best possible way.

Artistic, relaxing. Clean, functional, & minimal UI. Simple design. The music is nice, and the musical notes attached to each action is nice, but can be a tiny bit annoying if you do puzzles quickly, as then it sounds like someone smashing all the keys on the piano.

Worth the money, probably. It never seems to go on sale.
I bought it when Steam had a $6-off-for-$35-purchased sale and saved a little that way.

The menu system is a bit buggy (wait a second before pressing the Escape key) and overlong.
Once you grasp what's going on, it's more an exercise in memory than reasoning. Still hard, though.
Quite pretty, and the sound feedback is good.

Somewhere into the third set I finally figured out what I was doing.
Spoiler (solution algorithm):
1.) Take any single-color strips off (in your head).
2.) Add them to the end of your mental list.
3.) With those gone, the puzzle will have new single-color strips left (or be done).
a) If it isn't done, loop to 1.).
b) If it is done, go to 4.) with your mental list.
4.) Lay strips of the appropriate colors on the puzzle in the opposite order from which you mentally removed them.
If you ever get stuck, you can paste a screen grab into Paint and use that to remember your solution order.

This is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable games I've ever played. Musical cues are fantastic, the levels are challenging but not infurating, and the premise is really fun.

Enjoyable spatial reasoning and layering game, definitely recommend for anyone who picks up a game now and then to while away the time while listening to an audiobook. Pleasant and simple graphics with a minimalist feel that add a meditative feel to the game.

Pros

• Healing music
  
• Plenty of puzzles
  
• Difficulty increases at good level
  

Cons

• Somehow similar gamplay repeats. No new technique until end of game. This makes game get bored in short time.
  
[*] Bug in achievements: does "All" meant "Any"?

Layering, Colors, and Patterns.

This game is unique, easy to understand, challenging to master, and overall a brain teaser. Over hundres of levels to solve, hours of fun. The ambience is very fitting for each set of levels. Calm, soothing. Feels like you're in a whole different world.

You get a choice of colors and amount to solve grid puzzles. Do solve the puzzle, the correct colors must be met with a ribbon as the second layer over that box. You will notice patterns with the ribbons that may hurt your eyes if you stare at them too long, but you may also notice patterns without the ribbons to help you get started and where to go. It'll come with experience the more you play and keep trying.

The learning curve eases upward at first, but might spike up a bit if you weren't prepared. You do need to concentrate if you're trying to solve it mentally before you make your first move.

It's worth the price, wouldn't wait for a sale.

----

Check out more games I see that deserve more attention from my curator group:
BluePaw's Underrated Games List
Join and/or follow if you wish.

The good:
I like the concept of the puzzles. It's unique, and does take a little time to think through. Subtly a memory puzzle at times. Very consistent, which can be tricky to make in a puzzle game. The presentation is also generally quite pretty, and the music is nice and relaxing, and each move you make sounds rather musical as well so that's nice.

The bad:
Repetitive. No surprises here whatsoever, and once you come up with a strategy for the early puzzles every other one works exactly the same way. I like the puzzle idea but now I feel like I've done as many of them as I'd ever want to. Game awards a crown for a "perfect" score, which just means no undos - this could benefit from some kind of extra challenges, I'd say by taking advantage of the multiple solutions each puzzle has in its current form. Game feels meant for a touchscreen, and I wouldn't want to play it with a mouse. Also, no indication on a puzzle screen how many more puzzles are left in the set - I've taken to tallying them just so I know how far I have left.

The ugly:
While I've never had much issue with the gameplay (aside from what I think is fat fingers on my part but I could be wrong), the interface is bugged to hell. Sometimes I'll exit a puzzle set (seems to happen when I exit one without completing it all the way) and the puzzle set select screens bug out and overlay on top of each other and navigation becomes impossible. When you complete a level and all the ribbons slide away, the two on the bottom don't quite make it all the way off the top of the screen before blinking out, implying that the game was never really intended for a landscape view (and really, the left and right 1/3 of the screen is almost empty the entire game). Most damning, the achievements for completing and perfecting an entire puzzle set trigger on completing and perfecting the FIRST puzzle in a set, meaning you can get 14/24 achievements from playing a tiny fraction of the available puzzles.

Verdict:
I do not recommend spending more than [b]$1.00[b] for this game.

Strata is aesthetically minimalist but still manages an elegant beauty. Its sound design effectively communicates success and failure in a manner befitting the 'zen puzzler' mould it is trying to fill. Its minimalism extends to interface in a way that promotes the kind of 5 minute drop-in gaming that makes these games so addicting. Still I can't recommend this game because it fails in the one place that really matter, it's a weak puzzle.

For the first 10 minutes or so I really enjoyed Strata, a simple but engaging puzzle format that seemed to have a lot of room for variation ahead of it. Then it hit me, there is a simple mechanical stratey to solve literally every puzzle of this format regardless of the size or number of colours. However complicated a solution may be it is always trivial to solve in reverse, this leads to the game quickly evolving into busywork. Even for this low price with all the pretty packaging a bad puzzle is a bad puzzle and a thorough waste of time.

I kept hoping that in the later sets the game would through in some new spin or twist on the mechanics, unless it appears in the final 6x6 it never comes. I feel like there is something hidden within this concept that could be saved, maybe a block type that is set by the bottom ribbon or requires a particular ribbon combination? In its current state the game is nothing but dissapointing.

MINOR ISSUES: the game had a few navigation bugs in the level select menu which require a restart to make the game playable again. Some of the ribbon colours seem too close to each other leading to silly mistakes, this wouldn't be a big deal if the perfect system didn't punish undoing.

one of the few puzzle games that I've been a constant supporter of. From a year ago when it started on greenlight it has come out as something truly zen without sacrificing gameplay for it's simple and beautiful art style.

How it works is that you click on a banner color and select where it goes, the way the puzle works is that you have to fill out all the spaces without having any colors over the wrong spaces. The music is minimalist but peaceful. You don't have to play from start the finish you can freely choose which chapter you want to play but keep in mind they do become more elaborate and complicated as you go. The price as the defining factor as to whether or not to buy it is undoubledly fair at a price of $3.99 for such a small and simple title just to relax and stretch your mind

The graphics of this game are beautiful and the challenges are appropriate in difficulty and simplicity. I'm an avid fan of logic puzzles and prefer the ones where the rules are clearly explained in a visual manner. Strata does that perfectly and quickly, allowing you to jump right in without excessive amounts of tutorial.

With two and a half hours in I've gotten up to the end of Set 2, out of 7. Granted theres been some moments of idling do to me being a stay at home mother and needing to check on my son, but I still feel entertained and eager to continue on with perfecting each score. The price is fair at the 3.99 I purchased the game for. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a casual logic puzzle.

Strata is a weaving puzzle game that presents a challenge unique to the game itself. The puzzles may look simple at first, but soon you may realise there could be multiple solutions (or weaves) to a problem. If you're eager enough try out all the possibilities and patterns and invent your own strategy, like what I did, you will get hooked to Strata in no time.

The design of the puzzles are not only beautiful, they look visually mesmerising as well. The game is so rich with a wide array of colour palettes, I can't help but to stare at the completed puzzles and be filled with wonder. Strata is a must if you love puzzles with a mix of artistic elements, or even apply some weaving techniques in real life!

The most Zen game you'll ever play.

And I don't just mean its design. Its minimalist art style and pleasantly satisfying piano cues make it a joy just to be in there.

But there is also the actual puzzle solving aspect. The puzzles themselves have an abstract way to them, and they'll put your mind to work. You'll wrack your brain figuring out the proper way to solve a stage... but just when you're about to give up, you'll simply see it. Clear in your mind: the solution. You'll suddenly find yourself in the zone, and you'll be solving stages in a breeze, amid an unstoppable flow of clarity.

It's a feeling that is hard to describe in words otherwise, so I highly recommend you experience it yourself.

Strata could be so frustrating--except it's so careful not to be.

I mulled over purchasing Strata for a while. At first I was worried I wasn't smart enough to get too into this game, but it's very forgiving and the sound effects are calming, almost meditative. I have lovely moments of insight, where everything just clicks and the ribbons weave so perfectly, and I have times where I ponder and redo... and occasionally look at the hints.

Don't worry about difficulty: it draws you in slowly and gently and gives you all the time you need.

Strata is a very simple idea that works well and is nicely delivered. It starts as a pleasant casual game in that you can just walk away from it an any time and it's out of your head in a nanosecond, but while you're playing it.

But....

A possible criticism is the change in difficulty curve every time your square increases in size. There's a large jump between 3x3 puzzles and 4x4 ones and the further one progresses the less casual it becomes and the more concentration is needed. Strata stops being so casual and becomes fiendish once you're sucked in unless you use the hints I guess. But I'm not a fan of just following instructions.

Strata is a fun puzzle style game done with lines, and a hint of music. The artistic value of such a small game is done very well and will test your brain to being able to think ahead. I enjoyed the puzzles and found beating a puzzle to be highly enjoyable. For more reviews be sure to check out the channel here, as always thank you for your time. https://www.youtube.com/user/SocioPyscho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmV7RNdC780&list=UU7_-PLIhjsEBwIQXqKxmNpA

If you enjoy puzzles that give you a sense of accomplishment when you complete...this game is 10/10 the game for you.
Very reasonable price, and simplistic yet endearing game play and artwork.
As soon as you get the hang of it, you'll zip through the puzzles until...no longer shall you trudge through 3x3 puzzles, but you reach the ever increasing difficulty of 4x4! A whole new style of getting it just right to learn, and many many more to complete, this goes on until 5x5, and ending up with the God-like 6x6! With achievements that are 100% completed from just playing the game and completing all the puzzles, this game will test you over and over, putting your patience and intelligence into question.

Get it, play it, win it, love it.

Did you love Lyne? If so, this is the BOMB.COM for you!

Strata isn't fast-paced. Or action-filled. Or multiplayer. Strata is relaxing. Calm. Fun. It's a very simple game: draw lines on a grid, so every square is covered by the same coloured line. But here's the twist: the colour needs to be the same on the top. What starts off as a simple, easy game becomes a mind-boggling addictive puzzle. I could spend the same amount of time into Counter-Strike as i could with Strata. It's that good. Soon, you'll be matching up lines everywhere!

But gameplay isn't the only thing. Strata is beautifully designed, with clean, neat, paper-like formatting that is both relaxing to the eye and wonderfully complex. In addition, the sound is well done. Timing right with the game, it eases you straight into a position of comfortability and easy-mindedness.

Beware! This game most certainly isn't Borderlands 2, but it is well worth 3.99 (2.99 on sale), for a relaxing puzzle game that you can play for hours on end. Just remember to take breaks once in a while.

Looking for a beautiful, relaxing game? This is it.
Similar in feel to Kami, Picross, Splice, Lyne.

Everything from the graphics to the music, to the gameplay is incredibly zen and gives you peace of mind while still managing to engage you. Very easy to get into, even without the excellent yet simple tutorial.

What made me first discover Strata and Kami was the wonderfully clean art-style, I was very surprised how well orchestrated the game is with small bits of beautifully crafted sounds. There seems to be no loading times for each puzzle which makes everything feel like it flows together beautifully, adding to the already peaceful setting of the game.

Strata reminds me of puzzle games like Flow and Picross. Like those games, Strata has a simple, grid based ruleset whose depth comes from the many variations of the playing board. The simplicity of the game's interface helps keep the focus on what is important. No wading through unnecessary time-wasting elements searching for the game or fun play. Each little action results in relaxed musical riffs which set a peaceful tone. This, coupled with subtle animations gives proper weight to each click, making the game have a sense of physicality which grounds the player in the interaction. And Strata makes fanatastic use of color. For that reason alone, give it a shot.

A nice zen puzzler. You against your own intellect. Tranquil and meditative; provides food for thought. No rage-quits here. Well worth the money.