Games worth discovering

24 Solar Terms had me puzzling through ancient China

976 View2023-08-09

You’ve probably never heard of the traditional Chinese twenty-four solar terms, and here in lies the beauty of the game 24 Solar Terms. It would be easy enough to create a relaxing seek-and-find puzzler, but combined with traditional myths, fables, and proverbs, you get something that’s not only fun but also educational. Now, educational might seem like a loaded word for boring, but while playing 24 Solar Terms, not only did I improve my skills for the next trivia night, I got to feed a giant white tiger in the process; how many times do you get to put those two things into a single experience?

24 Solar Terms establishes the relaxing game it is from the beginning. From the title screen, I was greeted with an upbeat piano tune and little hand-drawn hatchlings that seemed to tweet, “Sit back and chill.” And you know what? It worked because, at some point, I got distracted and started running errands around the house, and yet I left that opening piano tune on repeat, and it made me feel better. The seasons within 24 Solar Terms have the same mood incorporating instruments like the flute that add to the pleasant experience.

And though there weren’t any opening tutorials that provided extensive insights on what to do, the beautiful hand-drawn animations provided enough hints to decipher how I was supposed to proceed. Overall, I found the gameplay easy to figure out and the puzzles challenging enough that I considered using the hint button multiple times.

But my favorite aspect of 24 Solar Terms was the real-life proverbs that appear after completing a puzzle. “A good rain knows its good time, coming as a natural product in the spring rhyme.” which is an actual saying accredited to the ancient Chinese poet Du Fu from the Tang dynasty. Little things like this take 24 Solar Terms from your average puzzler to a great puzzler.

The entire spring section is free, but the full game can be unlocked for $2.99. A great price when considering the research and effort it took to create something like this. I highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a unique puzzler that combines hand-drawn art and culture into the experience.