Ultra Hat Dimension is a puzzle game that is all about knock on effects – literally. You play as a witch trying to get to the exit of each level but creatures called Spluff’s are sitting everywhere blocking your way. Get near them and they’ll punch you in the face! Can you use this mechanic to your advantage to escape the Ultra Hat Dimension?!
This game is a logic puzzle that reminds me a little of sliding picture puzzles and a lot of block pushing ones. The twist here is that different types of Spluff’s do different things depending on what hat you wear and what hat they wear. If you match, they think you are one of them and they’ll ignore you. Another hat will make them punch you, another will knock you across the room until you hit something and another will set them off forever punching. Your brain will need to reverse engineer levels to work out how to open the exit.
Levels are largely either tight and twisty narrow mazes which punish every move or open rooms full of Spluffs which require you to choose wisely. The flip between no choice and too much choice keeps the puzzles fresh early on and trying different hats against other hats is part of the unlocking logic process. Although guides exist for the easy platinum which unlocks after a few worlds, go it alone with trial and error for the real experience. There is a definite difficulty curve here although fans of Sokoban I think will find it an easier ride. Add in some blockades, ice terrain and conveyor belts and you have yourself a tricky game.
Graphically the game is nothing to shout about but its cute enough. The real marmite is in the sound effects department. Your witch says ‘pow’ every time a punch is hit and so it moves from cute to comical to unbearable as you get longer, more chain reaction based levels. I ended up muting the game but your mileage will vary.
It took me a couple of hours to get deep into the game and as its cheap and often on sale, that’s a good investment on time and money. I wish there was a rewind button rather than a reset level button because in large levels it can take a few minutes to set everything up but that’s the only downside I can give the game. Ultra Hat Dimension is a good example of taking a simple idea and squeezing everything out of it in a short but well put together puzzle game.
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