What’s the Password? Review (Android, iOS & PC)

I never thought What’s the Password? would be able to tickle my brain the way that it did. Heck, I chalked it up as a quick, simple, and soothing way to wax my ego for twenty minutes or so. However, at no point did I expect it to actually get the cogs in my head turning. But, despite my best efforts to envelope it as a short black-and-white incremental puzzler, the truth is, it gave me a lot more to think about. It wasn’t just about decoding four digit passwords; it was about combing over the smallest details to find small fragments of data in surprisingly complex decoders.

With a hundred creative puzzles to work through and a handful of randomized solutions to crack, What’s the Password? handed me a lot of fuel for the inner fire—a lofty selection of original puzzles and thrice the amount of answers to siphon out. At first, it was all rather straightforward, with a digital padlock, twelve buttons, and a faint fingerprint. The idea was simple: cycle through various combinations until the correct four digit code was inserted. The puzzle would then illuminate the way forward, and follow through with yet another puzzle for me to take a stab at. The idea, again, was simple: decipher a code from the fickle details of a small image—a labyrinth, a keychain, a chessboard, or a sudoku grid, for example—and move on to the next sequence in the timeline.

In what felt like hours of mindlessly fumbling around in the dark, I must have spent most of my time looking a little too far into things. It was justified, too, in most cases, given that What’s the Password? never really gave me a lot to work with. Instead, it handed me a treasure trove of thought-provoking questions, a mere four-digit answer, and a lot of oddly creative ideas to gradually chisel through. At points, I couldn’t quite gel with it. But, maybe that was a “skill” issue, or a simple lack of observational talent on my part. In other cases, though, the lightbulb would ping, and a sudden “a-ha” spell would draw me back into its clutches. And it was times like these, really, that helped transform What’s the Password? from a painful pastime into a well-balanced puzzler.

While the objective never really changed over the course of its hundred levels, its puzzles were almost entirely different in size and complexity. For instance, in one chapter I had a simple page-based code to solve—a challenge that ultimately led to a simple deduction of numbers and a quick flick of the wrist. But in other chapters, I had a lot more to ponder, with a myriad of obstacles, letter formations, and numerical patterns to consider alongside possible solutions. Difficult, though never quite impossible. But, I had the built-in hint system to help with that.

Although I did encounter my fair share of complicated puzzles over the hundred yard journey, What’s the Password? often had a fresh way of keeping me going, if not with a creative challenge or theme, then with a plausible solution that would often make me believe that I was a lot smarter than I probably was at the time. On occasion, I’d want to depart from the wagon and set my sights elsewhere. But then, being a good puzzler with an unpredictable schedule, I often found myself going back to take another chance on it. That, to me, was a sign of a great experience.

Suffice it to say, What’s the Password? clearly lacks the visual complexity of a big-budget puzzle game. But that’s all part of its incremental charm; it’s simple, to the point, and comfortable in its own skin. More to the point, it uses its simplicity to keep you engrossed with an easy-on-the-eye design. Rather than being a hot mess with a whole lot of unnecessarily flamboyant sensory overload jargon, it opts to keep things to the letter, with a black and white interface, some sharp line work, and a clutter-free workspace. It might not deliver the wow factor, but it gets the job done, and that counts for a lot here.

Thanks to its randomized codes and wealth of mind-fumbling puzzles, What‘s the Password? delivers a solid challenge with just enough replay value to pinch two or three hours of your time, nothing more, nothing less. As for whether or not it could introduce more layers to its numerical core in the future is another question. Honestly, though, I think it has the infrastructure and the capacity to bolster its presence in the field, with, perhaps, the creative mindset to conjure vast amounts of tricky puzzles. Here’s hoping that, with any luck, it’ll find the means to build on its existing model over the coming quarter. Personally, I wouldn’t turn my nose up to another hundred stages or so. I think that says it all, really.

With all of the above said, if you are a fan of visually simple games that favor the puzzles over the aesthetic, then there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy flicking through the hundred acre paradigm of black-and-white challenges here. It’ll definitely get the cogs in your head churning, and it’ll more than likely test your patience, naturally. But, if you’re all for the idea of mulling over intricate details for minutes at a time, then you will no doubt be able to get your money’s worth here.

Verdict

What’s the Password? does a brilliant job of getting the gears in your head ticking with its oddly complex numerical properties and its creative solutions. While still visually uninspiring, the game itself delivers a clean, engaging, and thought-provoking experience that is likely to appeal to both eagle-eyed observers and fledgling puzzle enthusiasts alike. With a handful of pages to carve through and a useful hint system to help you locate that all-important lightbulb moment, TrampolineTales’ latest entry clearly stands tall as a good place for you to start your journey to the depths of a classic page turner.