Freshly Frosted is a wonderfully charming puzzle game about donuts. If that isn’t enough to sell you off the bat, well, let me add that not only is it charming, but very clever too in its approach to the puzzles laid out before us. If anything, there’s a little too much here, but that really shouldn’t go against it.
The puzzles themselves take place in the imagination of our narrator as she whiles away the time starring at the clouds, unwinding with a little mental stimulation. Split up into twelve boxes, each with twelve puzzles, they have their own ruleset and theme to overcome; early on is simply a case of delivering the right donut to the right counter, whereas later levels have us using splitters, avoiding toppings, and more. After a snappy introduction to each idea, developers The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild waste no time in upping the ante. While I’ve only been truly stuck a handful of times so far – for which a handy hint feature is in place – the puzzles still require a fair bit of logic and forward planning.
Solving them is a case of placing down a series of conveyer belts from start to finish. Some stages have specific requirements for several end counters, while others have a specific amount of each donut that need to make it to all of the goals.
While the levels aren’t overly long, some can take a while to figure out for sure. Box four in particular tripped me up a fair amount – needing to combine several routes of donuts just didn’t compute in my brain. Others are just as tough, but importantly they never feel unfair or obtuse. The solution is always within reach, and as I mentioned there is a handy hint feature as well as the option to skip a level if we get really stuck. This still allows us to continue onto the next puzzle and box as well, letting us come back to it far later on. Inputs can be undone, redone, and completely wiped easily, as well as overwritten should we need to change course. It never feels like the game is the roadblock to our success, only our poor planning and execution.
It looks and sounds lovely too. The narrator has a wonderfully pleasing voice, while the rhythmic motions of the donuts in time with the music when we solve a puzzle is a great touch. Each donut looks good enough to eat, and the soothing, ambient background lighting mean even when we’re stuck it’s hard to get annoyed.
Conclusion
I’ve very much enjoyed my time with Freshly Frosted. It’s proven to be a nice game to unwind with after the work day, with challenges that are pitched just about right for the most part. Wrapped up in a cute and whimsical story and art style, this is a refreshing puzzler that stands out from the crowd.
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This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
