Mindbender is a unique blend of action and puzzle in a fantasy setting. The object is simple: rotate the mirrors held by little gnomes to reflect the ray of spell being cast by your wizard so that it hits every kettle spell ingredient, and finally the exit door. Like other good puzzle games, it is very hard to master the game in practice. For one thing, mirrors rotate at different increments, e.g. one mirror might rotate 5 degress each time, while another might rotate 15 degrees. This makes it impossible to simply rotate one mirror to hit all the ingredients, and forces you to construct intricate patterns of reflecting rays. The good news is that there is no limit to the number of moves you can make, although there is time limit on each level. The bad news is that with virtually unlimited number of possible combinations of mirror positions, the game is very difficult even on the first few levels. Higher levels put many more complex obstacles in your way, such as a lamp that must be triggered on, "polarisators," random reflecting prism, locks, and many more unique objects. This makes Mindbender a very challenging game that newcomers to puzzle genre should avoid, unless they are prepared for some very frustrating sessions. Recommended, but be warned of its high difficulty level. Note: Use A and S keys to rotate mirrors, and arrow keys to move the cursor. Reviewed by: Underdogs |