Tetragon is a puzzle platformer developed by Cafundo Estudio Criativo Eireli and published by Buka Entertainment. Unlike most platforms that utilize lots of jumping and careful timing, Tetragon relies on magical spells and world alteration to traverse. Often times the entire level will be topsy-turvy or otherwise unrecognizable from its first state once solved.

Tetragon|Buka Entertainment|Cafundo Estudio Criativo Eireli

The woodcutter Lucios finds himself too preoccupied with his work, losing sight of his young son who wanders off into the forest. Realizing his child has disappeared; Lucios gives chase and discovers a strange runic symbol of the Tetragen. Almost instantly, he is teleported into another realm and has little recollection of what happened. Lucios is soon guided by a wayward spirit that empowers his lamp with magic. However, this spirit seems more interested in bringing Lucios deeper into the forest than helping him reunite with his son.

Stages in Tetragon are made up of a grid, typically 16 by 16 individual squares (but can vary). Lucios always occupies two vertical squares and has no option of ducking or crawling; this means there will need to be adequate headroom to walk upright through passages. The main character can climb up to two squares vertically, or safely leap down three squares. Jumping four or more square spaces down will result in Lucios’ death. There is also no horizontal jumping and Lucios will simply descend when reaching any gap. There is no quick backtrack or cancel button, so dying or making too many mistakes will require replaying the entire level from the beginning.

Tetragon|Buka Entertainment|Cafundo Estudio Criativo Eireli

While Lucios himself isn’t much of an athlete, he does carry a magical lamp that allows him to manipulate parts of the terrain. He can control the height or length of any rune inscribed pillar, even from a distance. Each pillar has some limitations on its minimum and maximum size, and Lucios cannot raise the platforms he is currently standing on (but can lower them). When standing adjacent to magic symbols, Lucios can also rotate the entire stage possibly 90, 180, or 270 degrees. This symbol does need to be directed at Lucios’ lower half, as he will not interact with them if they are currently above his waist.

Puzzles will start out methodical, with players having the time to figure out where to correctly place Lucios before switching over to magic, altering the terrain, and then moving again. Later levels will start adding in more hazards and active stage parts, like fire, teleporters, and closing gates. This creates an element of timing, where the magical lamp will set up situations, but players will have to swiftly run before a chance at freedom dissipates or Lucios winds up in danger.

Tetragon|Buka Entertainment|Cafundo Estudio Criativo Eireli

In most levels, the puzzles aren’t complicated enough to hinder players from reaching end goals and moving on to the next zone. Instead, the challenge comes from finding optimum routes and speed running a puzzle for a faster record. Additionally, stages have secret side objectives like finding shattered pieces of the Tetragen or speaking to ghostly images of Lucios’ lost son. There are even special levels unlocked for finding these different routes, and completion can have some impact on the game’s ending. Simply going through the main story should only take around four or five hours, with the side objectives adding in another hour or so.

Tetragon does have some glaring bugs and flaws. In some cases, Lucios can wind up outside the bounds of the intended puzzle, but the camera will not adjust to his location. This can either lead to players having to guess how to get the main character back into the stage area, or immediately reset. A better solution would have been an instant death when reaching beyond the top and bottom rows.

Tetragon|Buka Entertainment|Cafundo Estudio Criativo Eireli

In general, Tetragon has a lack of quality of life features and some awkward typos that are clearly mistranslations from the native Portuguese. It even becomes unclear at times if “Tetragon” and “Tetragen” are arbitrarily being swapped. The menu’s “New Game” has no confirmation or warning that it will wipe all progress to restart. This means players could be far into Tetragon and enjoying the mysterious puzzles, only to be thrown back to the very first level with no way to rectify the issue. This becomes even more confusing, as the New Game sub interface looks identical to selecting a previous stage (but with all of them being locked).

Players looking for a whimsical and intriguing puzzle game will get the most enjoyment from Tetragon. While the experience might tickle the brain slightly, it won’t do much for initially challenging one’s thinking. Instead, it will either take a second playthrough or purposeful searching for secrets to become a stumper. Just be ready for strange story quirks and features that come from the game’s translation.

Kurtis Seid, NoobFeed
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