[the Sequence]

no way to play in windowed mode or change which monitor to fullscreen to
no keyboard shorcuts to quickly rotate or switch what i have selected
even on second level there seemed to be blocks missing (the level in hint looked different)
the dev seemed to have abandoned this game

Nice

Great puzzle game. Orchestrating a few simple movements to create a complex, repeating motion is very satisfying. The "Hint points" system is well balanced, helping players when they feel stuck, without taking away the challenge or being punishing. Like all great puzzle games, you will on occasion find your own solutions that weren't the intended solution.

Very intuitive, but not enough levels

This game is perfect for people who love logic puzzles and the specific order of how things happen. It's so rewarding to complete a puzzle, and then to watch your system work indefinitely.

Great difficult engineering puzzle game. A classic. Once you get to the point where (minor spoilers) machines can manipulate other machines it really expands.

That being said, I was moderately disappointed with this Steam version of the game. It's a straight port to PC from a phone interface and they've changed almost nothing in the interface. Everything is mouse-driven. I would love if the keyboard could be used to rotate/toggle parts, start/stop playback, etc. There is a menu option to leave a review for the game and it links to the iTunes app store instead of Steam, which is not this version of the game.

Overall: good game, poor interface.

I really enjoyed the puzzles in this game. It is not a Zacklike in the sense that puzzles have a single solution (at least in the main campaign) but it has some novel ideas like using modules to move other modules which I haven't seen in other puzzle games. This mechanic lead to many pleasurable aha moments. The game does however have a few bugs that make it frustrating at times (sometimes puzzles are loaded with the wrong parts and you spend an hour trying to think up a solution only to realize there is none). Hope the sequel is a bit more polished and will definitely give it a try.

The game is fun and the puzzles are very well done, though there are significant usability issues. The most frustrating is that the fast forward does almost nothing -- even though the animations of individual parts are sped up slightly, it keeps the same pause between actions which comprises the majority of time anyhow. Also the ending is broken and apparently has been for 6 years, which is weird given how solid the rest of the game is.

A simple yet unique feeling puzzle game. You will very quickly understand how the game works but it will keep you engaged trying to use that knowledge to solve the puzzles. Looking forward to playing the next iteration of this game.

Very enjoyable puzzler that should appeal to fans of the Zachtronics genre of games. The game introduces the various possible widgets/manipulators with a series of 'solve with the given set of widgets' type levels, then later unlocks a set of sandbox puzzles where you can use whatever widgets you choose. Early levels are pretty straight forward, but the difficulty ramps up nicely later and gets pretty complex.

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"Zach-like" gameplay in [the Sequence] is too good to not recommend it somehow, but YSK the PC version is a direct port from the (cheaper) mobile version with zero QoL optimizations -- everything must be done with a left click so get used to paging through menus; fullscreen only and no resolution options; even the "Rate this game" button in the settings menu still takes you the apple App Store. I leave it to you to decide whether to wait for a sale and live with it on PC, or just opt for a mobile version, but I do recommend one or the other if this style of game appeals to you. Or, you might take this review just as me saying "yes, this Dev does seem to know how puzzley gameplay works" and go check out the sequel, The Sequence 2 (see the Review of the sequel here). There you do at least get some basic resolution/windowed options through the Unity launcher and some hotkeys and extended mouse functionality. Both games offer volume sliders for music and fx, so that's something. Music here is "meh."

There's no narrative, just puzzley gameplay. There are a total of 72 levels, split into an initial chunk of 48 and another chunk ("the core sequence") of 24. (The first few levels are a pretty brutal forced tutorial, but it's done quickly). Once you get past the first 48, the remaining levels are all available at once. However, within the first 48, you're forced to proceed through small sets of 2-3 levels at a time, and you need to beat all in that set before the next set unlocks. So, you could get stuck, but as you beat levels you earn "hint points" that you can use to help you along on tough levels. As I write this, I've logged 4.5 hours and have just beaten level 48 and gained access to the rest. So there's some decent playtime here -- and this doesn't include some time I've spent thinking about solutions offline, using screenshots. There's also a sandbox mode where you have access to unlimited modules and can just play around.

On each board you need to build a machine to carry a flashy-thing to the goal. You do this by positioning the available "modules" (little gadgets), each of which can perform a specific action in one of two directions based on its "polarity." For example, the push/pull module can either be set to pull, or it can be set to push. Or the rotation module picks up whatever's next to it, then (depending on polarity) rotates 90° clockwise or counterclockwise and sets it down. In addition to position and polarity, you also need to set their initial orientation (which way it's facing). Once your modules are in place, you finally need to set the order in which they will each take their actions, one at a time, in sequence. (by default, they will operate in the order in which you place them.) Then you press play and let your machine run.

What you want to happen is that running your machine on a loop will seamlessly deliver the flash-thing to the goal and then neatly reset the machine to its initial state so that it can run again. The goal is to build a machine that will repeatedly deliver the flashy-thing to the goal 4 times on a single run -- and you can't have any modules colliding with each other, or with barriers, or with the flashy thing.

Where this gets tricky is modules can interact with each other and on later levels, they need to. So, e.g., you can have your push/pull module take its action, then have it picked up by the rotation module and repositioned to a new location: the next time your sequence loops, the push/pull module will be operating in a whole new place. As the game goes on you get new modules that will reset the polarity of other modules mid-sequence (so, e.g., what had been a push becomes a pull on the next loop), and modules that will turn other modules on/off (so, e.g., the pull module will pull on the first loop, then do nothing on the second loop, then pull again in the third loop). Etc., and you can stack all this.

By the end it's a complex logistical nightmare of exactly the sort you'd expect from a "Zach-like." And it really does take some thought to crack some of them: difficulty has not been entirely nerfed. The basic design here is stylish, but a little clunkier than the more polished Zachtronics games (though perhaps not as un-polished as Spacechem, to be fair). Even when my machine was working well, it just never felt like it was running very smoothly: the animation just marches through each step, small delay, next step, etc. Success felt good, but the machine never felt fluid.

There's no requirement to optimize, and very little opportunity to do so: you basically need all your modules on nearly all the levels, and there's not much room to innovate how you deploy them. (It looks like the sequel might be asking for a bit of optimization for some of the achievements.)

All in all, it was never a great port, but you could still do a lot worse if you're looking for a Zach-like.

I was pondering whether to say yes or no, since the review score is unfortunately too basic in Steam.
The puzzles are interesting and the game enjoyable, if a bit short. But it's a crude port of the Android game, without any effort to make it user-friendly on a PC.

Moreover, there were some issues and I never saw a reply from the dev. This makes me think the game was published for PC as an afterthought and with the minimum effort in order to rake in a little more money from something that has been designed with another platform in mind.

I recommend the game on Android, where it make sense - it will work on PC though, just not as well. Don't expect support if you have a problem.

A very simple puzzle game, in principle, but with a recursive depth brought on by the ability of the pieces to affect/move other parts of the solution.
Some puzzles are mind-boggling, whereas others can be completed without using all the available elements.

I'm surprised by just how fun this game is. I got it with a Steam coupon, so I had some low expectations. But this game surprised me. The levels are challenging, but fair. It's satisfying to see a puzzle completed. And even though the game only has one song, it's nice and pleasant, and doesn't get on my nerves.

I wasn't able to complete any level except the tutorial which tells you exactly where to click, maybe I am too dumb for this game.

About as simple and concise as a puzzle can be. [the sequence] is a game where you are given a few parts and you must use them to move a particle from point A to point B. The game is small enough to be contained in a simple screen so you can easily understand everything your little machine does at a glance.

I personally like how the game is very relaxed. There's no punishment to retrying a level as many times as you'd like, no scores, no timers. Just you and the puzzle in front of you. Past the first few stages, you unlock a bunch of levels at a time, so you can switch to another one if you need to take a break from the current one you're in.

Zachtronics fans might like this, even if it feels a bit like SpaceChem's little brother (in the best possible way). This might also be a good fit for those who like The Incredible Machine and its game family.

I never played this on mobile, so I can't comment on the transition or quality of port.

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Review

Score/Notes

Simple as moving object from point A to point B by using different modules that can move the object in special ways, easy? Well there are some limitations, the movement procedure has to function flawless three (or more) times without colissions.
The further into the game you progress, the more complex the puzzels get and the more modules you can access.
Great puzzle game, many hours of braintwisting puzzles, realy worth the money.

The concept is incredibly straightforward - this is a simple logic puzzle with a handful of different components to arrange to get an object from point a to point b. Where the Sequence seems to stand out - and this is a very important point because a good concept with poor execution is not worth it - is that the level design is excellent. Each level looks like its had thought put into it to require a new frame of thought from the rest which is great.

A lot of puzzle games advertise the number of puzzles they have but many of them are grinding out the same solution - this is not one of those games.

[the Sequence] is a pure logic puzzle, similar to the game SpaceChem.
The graphics are clean and music and sound effects match the aesthetics of the game.

The puzzles, start at a good pace, introducing you to the various mechanics and abilities of the pieces or modules as they are called.

The game then takes a steady increase in difficulty adding in the remaining modules and obstacles.

Each module has an easy to access help menu which describes and animates the function of the module.

As I played I found myself wanting to always finish the next level and this is a good thing, as many logic puzzles tend to leave a feeling of repetitiveness.

I would have liked to see the game nudge the player to understand that modules can also interact with modules, this is however clearly stated in the modules help area, I still feel such a essential piece of information would have benefited from a little highlight.

The game itself is clearly designed for a vertical view area and leaves a lot of screen space bare on desktop, but the game works and I'm not sure I would change the view either,

Unfortunately, remnants of it's mobile existence remains in the form of a "rate the game" button that opens a browser to the Apple Store, rather than it's steam page or a landing page on the developers website.

In conclusion this game is a perfect addition to any Logic Puzzle lovers playlist.

First impression: solid graphical programming/factory puzzle game

Take a grid, add a machine that produces objects and one that accepts objects, and a toolbox of other machines that can move the object or other machines, or make the other machines go the other way, etc. You need to build a factory line that moves the objects to where they need to go.

So far, I played 30/48 levels. This machine looks like an easier version of SpaceChem - it is less complex, but the impression of ongoing 2D processes timed to work with each other (if not, everything crashes) is the same. Both games will get you to think in terms of processing, which is a prerequisite to programming.

From time to time, you will earn hint points that you can use to reveal module positions on the board when you're stuck for an idea; I had to use that once so far. The level design is excellent.

It's a steal at the sale price, and a good value otherwise. Recommended.

This game runs a little sluggish on my old Windows XP computer, and is fullscreen only.

Awesome puzzle game!

It starts pretty easy, but it gets more and more complex and you progress and at some point you really have to think hard to solve the puzzles. The basics are simple, you have a couple of modules you can use in order to move a white dot from the start to the finish, but the amount of things you can do with those simple modules is incredible, and the levels are really really well designed to make you think hard and figure out all of the possibilities.

On the design side, the game is beautiful and the sounds are really good! One complaint would be that the interface isn't adapted for horizontal screens. The game started as an iOS game and so it looks like you have an iPad in the middle of your screen. The different buttons could have been place on the sides to leave more room for the actual level, which could have taken more space on the screen. It would be nice also if the game would detect the screen orientation so it would rotate if you want to play it vertically on a Windows tablet. It'd be nice if they could add controller support also. It shouldn't be too hard and it would work great with a controller since the game is a grid with simple controls.

Talking about tablets, the game works great on a touchscreen! I added the "Touch-Friendly" tag to the game, but more people need to add it for the game to be officially tagged as touch-friendly, so if you have a minute, please add the tag so this game gets more visibility for people playing on tablets!

This game is freakin' amazing. If you like puzzles that really make you think, you can't go wrong with this one!

What I liked:

• Simple clean interface
  

• I got this game on IOS, seemed fun but hate touch controlsso got it on Steam
  
• NO KEYBINDINGS FOR ANYTHING!!! need to rotate an object, change the number of sequence, change the state, Must click the stupid icons #FAIL
  
• Keybindings isn't worth not liking a game. What I don't like is there is only one solution to every puzzle :0. NOOO!!!
  
• There is no out of the box thinking, not like others in similar genre.
  
• When I see programming as the genre tag, I expect games like all of Zachtronic's. Maybe I expect too much
  
  

  My Score:

  
  D
  
  Paid: Refunded
  Main Reason for dislike: Too simple
  
  Games similar that are better:
  [list]
  
• SpaceChem( the best in the genre, completely open ended, also the most complicated.)
  
• Infinifactory ( Basically SpaceChem 3D, but easier to learn, still hard though, made by the same developer too
  
[*] LYNE ( more linear solutions, and somewhat harder)

Simple to learn, complex to understand thoroughly. It's what I love most about puzzle games. No need for over the top art, comples stories (that are waste of development time) or anything that is not related to the puzzles themselves. Pure, simple logic, now that's my kind of game.