Gaming

Judging by the trailers I thought "INFRA" was going to be a short first person exploration puzzler type of deal. Take photos of damaged structures, explore abandoned buildings, marvel at the graphical excellence of 2020s gaming, that kinda thing. It had rave reviews, but I chose to go in blind in terms of story.

Turns out, it's an over 30 hour puzzle adventure game with an ARG, pretty deep lore, comedy elements, horror elements, open exploration, collectibles, secret areas, easter eggs, etc. Most of it is pretty standard "walking simulator" gameplay, and part of the middle chapters can feel like a serious slog walking through tunnel after tunnel, but I found myself consistently surprised and even awed by the crazy environments the developers managed to create. The puzzles can also be seriously difficult at times, usually requiring some pretty good logical skills or even prior knowledge of how engineering and physics works. (although there is that one electrical wiring puzzle at the end of chapter 6/7 or whatever that has everybody stumped no matter their education level)