Patrick's Parabox box art

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Patrick's Parabox

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Patrick's Parabox

Mar 29, 2022

Main game

4.11 average rating based on 37 ratings

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A mind-bending recursive puzzle game about boxes within boxes within boxes within boxes. Learn to use infinity to your advantage as you explore a deep and elegant system.
Release Dates
Mar 29, 2022 Full Release (Worldwide)
Linux, Mac, PC (Microsoft Windows)
Jul 26, 2023 Full Release (Worldwide)
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5
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User Stats
363
In Collection
37
Wish Listed
11
Playing
182
Backlogged
How Long Is Patrick's Parabox?
Main + extras: 6.0 hours
Total completions: 2
SIGINT
SIGINT gave Apr 6, 2022
SIGINT gave Apr 6, 2022
Push it real good

Patrick's Parabox is a fun puzzle game that starts simple and gradually gets more mind-bending as it adds layers to its recursion-themed block puzzles. I haven't finished all of its hundreds of puzzles, but I've done well over 100, and I've been impressed by the different surprises the game has in store and how its puzzle design subtly leads you along to head-scratching dead ends until your "eureka" moment.

Puzzles that loop back around inside themselves, or that reflect into an alternate version are a couple examples of the paradox-creating designs spread throughout the game. This could easily become insanely complex, but this game has a smartly limited scope and ruleset that builds upon itself at a slow pace to ensure it's manageable. This is not a super easy game, but it's not trying to be obscure like some others -- everything is pretty much sitting there in plain sight for you to experiment and figure it all out. That experimentation with the systems is what makes this game so fun.

I found the game's minimalist presentation to be generally effective at the visual communication it needed to do for the sake of the gameplay, but a bit too plain …

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Patrick's Parabox is a fun puzzle game that starts simple and gradually gets more mind-bending as it adds layers to its recursion-themed block puzzles. I haven't finished all of its hundreds of puzzles, but I've done well over 100, and I've been impressed by the different surprises the game has in store and how its puzzle design subtly leads you along to head-scratching dead ends until your "eureka" moment.

Puzzles that loop back around inside themselves, or that reflect into an alternate version are a couple examples of the paradox-creating designs spread throughout the game. This could easily become insanely complex, but this game has a smartly limited scope and ruleset that builds upon itself at a slow pace to ensure it's manageable. This is not a super easy game, but it's not trying to be obscure like some others -- everything is pretty much sitting there in plain sight for you to experiment and figure it all out. That experimentation with the systems is what makes this game so fun.

I found the game's minimalist presentation to be generally effective at the visual communication it needed to do for the sake of the gameplay, but a bit too plain and lacking in style. Doesn't really impact the fun, but worth mentioning as a place for improvement. My only other small criticism is that the order puzzles are presented in sometimes didn't quite make sense to me. I'd do one and then a bit later I'd do one that seemed like it was trying to teach me how to do the prior one -- that may just be my own perception though.

I wouldn't say this is quite as memorable as the great indie puzzlers like The Witness or Baba Is You, but it felt a bit more approachable than those, and for the scope it's aiming for, it is very well done and worth checking out. Had a lot of fun so far and definitely plan to clear more of what's left for me.

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protowlf
protowlf gave Jan 5, 2023
protowlf gave Jan 5, 2023
protowlf's review of Patrick's Parabox
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version

Sublime puzzle mechanics combined with excellent design. A must-play for puzzle fans.

  • Incredibly-cool mechanics that bend your mind in the most fun way. Game is long and keeps introducing great mechanics all the way to the end.
  • Top-tier puzzle design. This game is hands-down more fun than many of its peers because it teaches you what you need to know, gives you just enough space to make discoveries on your own, and generally makes you feel smart all the way through the game.
  • Great semi-linear structure to the campaign. You can try harder puzzles at your own pace.
  • Wonderful consistent aesthetic through the menus and puzzles.
  • Hard to decide between a 4/5 and 5/5. Basically nothing bad to say about it, it is special among puzzle games, but not necessarily elevated beyond its own genre.
killerstar
killerstar updated their status Oct 8, 2023
killerstar updated their status Oct 8, 2023

If you remotely like puzzles, you have to try this game. It's fantastic.

killerstar
killerstar updated their status Apr 29, 2023
killerstar updated their status Apr 29, 2023

Whoa, this game is sooooo good. The recursive mechanic is recursive.. I mean, innovative and puzzle solutions are smart but not horribly hard.

SanyaBotva
SanyaBotva updated their status Apr 24, 2023
SanyaBotva updated their status Apr 24, 2023

I would also like to advise to look on another game on this Steam sale that is more of a puzzle than Tetris - Patrick's Parabox. I completed it not long ago and didn't write a review yet because I still try to beat post titles challenges, but I guess that it's just the best puzzle game that I played so far, so I strongly recommend to check it if you are also a fan of this type of games, there's 20% discount.

Lyrica
Lyrica updated their status Aug 31, 2022
Lyrica updated their status Aug 31, 2022

Ok, this was a little confusing to look at, lol.

(one puzzle spoiler for anyone who might play this)

112percent
112percent updated their status Aug 12, 2022
112percent updated their status Aug 12, 2022

Completion Status:

Completed all main and gallery levels.

Missing appendix and challenge levels.

peter
peter updated their status Mar 31, 2022
peter updated their status Mar 31, 2022

I just saw some hype for this game on Hacker News of all places. Just the videos and gifs alone on Steam makes me want to give it a look.