The beauty of TraptionBakery is that it looks so unassuming. A cute hand drawn steampunk quirky contraption. The entire game placed on a screen infront of you. Complete freedom to just poke and prod around. It’s a wonderful experience and a totally hidden gem that’s deserves some love since I picked it up earlier this year.
It may have been out for a couple of years but TraptionBakery still feels fresh. You zoom into a picture frame with a Goonie-esque contraption to bake bread with. The game is about curious exploration as you can pull any lever, press any button or set off any cogs and wheels into potential motion. Watch what happens, see if you make progress and slowly deduce what on earth to do. I love that the game doesn’t hold your hand but if you want it to, things you can interact with can be highlighted to make things a little easier to navigate.
The other thing I love about this game is its playful abstractness. Why not have an animal slide down a fairground slide to trigger something? Fancy playing the trumpet to set off something? What about the piano? Or the bomb? Hint – the bomb really does blow the game up – only do it once. As you explore the picture frame, you can see things making progress but you can also just play with things and get steam achievements as a result. Beyond being curious though, the puzzles slowly start to make sense as ingredients are combined through the most convoluted ways. TraptionBakery falls over itself to keep that quirky streak alive and is all the better for it.
Sadly, to say much more would spoil surprises as half the fun is twiddling with everything to see what happens! It isn’t a hugely long game but for the price, there’s plenty to love and even if you hit dead ends, you can sometimes solve something by accident (or timing). My only minor criticism is that zooming in and out is a little clunky and slow and you’ll be doing it constantly to access more deeper control options across the game. If you enjoy abstract logic puzzles that don’t hold your hand, TraptionBakery should be on your list.
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