Game Review: Busway Islands - Puzzle

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Being stuck waiting for a bus is no fun at all, but what is one to do when the road is all sorts of messed up too? Busway Islands - Puzzle (hereafter referred to as simply "Busway Islands") tackles that very specific question in a puzzle game that tasks players to fixing several island-based roads. Having released about a year ago on Steam, it's now available on all major consoles. We're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version of the game today, though I'm sure it'll be representative of all the other versions. We have a bus to catch, so let's dive right in!

Busway Islands has a very simple premise, you must lay out various roadways and railroad tracks in order to get the traffic moving safely on a total of 35 islands. I say "traffic", but only the trains and buses are important. The buses have to pick up passengers from all the stops, and the trains have to safely pass through any street intersections they come in contact with. That's it, you simply rearrange a shuffled up mess of road and railroad track blocks into something resembling order, and pray that the buses and trains don't collide with each other. It actually reminded me of a more puzzle-focused version of Train Valley (whose sequel I reviewed HERE), but each island/puzzle only has one proper solution. It's a really simply game that doesn't need much introduction, but it may take some time for those new to the game to understand exactly what is expected of them. There isn't much in the way of a tutorial, but everything is fairly self-explanatory. There are no extra pieces to the puzzle, and everything you need for the solution is available to you from the start. That means that it's possible to simply trial and error your way into the correct solution. Once the track is all laid out, possibly with barricades in place to stop potential collisions, you then run through the course. If all passengers are picked up, and all buses and trains make it out off the streets, you win. You then move on to the next island and the process starts again.

There are a few things that keep the gameplay of Busway Islands interesting though, and most of them involve an ever-increasing level of complexity. Besides the fact that the islands themselves will often get bigger as the game goes on, they also have other aspects to them like differing levels of terrain. Sometimes you'll have to accommodate for a bus going under a train track, or vice versa, and you may have to place inclines to raise or lower tracks and roads. Later levels will even introduce additional buses and trains, and you'll have to think carefully about placing the barricades and roads in order to hit all the stops while avoiding collisions. It never becomes impossible levels of hard, though it can feel very daunting seeing the jumble of roads that each level starts with. It's a testament to the developers’ skill that each island only has one proper solution, and the trick really is just messing around with the pieces until you start to uncover it. I did find myself wishing that the game included something like a hint system to help in the earlier sections of some of the later islands, but I guess the gameplay is simple enough to not warrant that in the long run.

Even though I had far more fun with Busway Islands than I thought I would, there are a few things that keep it from truly being great. Probably owing to the game starting life on PC, the controls are rather wonky on console, and often can be quite confusing. Several times I'd accidentally change pieces when I meant to click a new one, and it took me a very long time to realize you could select the track barricades in the first place. Button prompts are shown on screen, but they can be easy to miss. There's also no way to change the controls within the standard options menu. These control issues are multiplied again when you also factor in that the game features one of the worst camera angles possible for a game like this. I swear that there were a couple times when I was able to properly adjust the angle to get a better view of the island, but most of the time the camera is far too low to see things towards the edges of the map, or pieces that were behind taller two-level ones. You simply have to rotate the camera and hope for the best. There is no time keeping mechanic in Busway Islands, so these annoyances never truly affected gameplay, but they were unfortunate nonetheless. "Unfortunate" really is the operative word there, as I think the game would be near perfect without these issues.

Graphically Busway Islands isn't much to look at it, and it reminds me of something you'd see on mobile devices. That said, I have to admit that the world is colorful and detailed, and does change up in the later island. The bus and train animations are also smooth, as is its performance on consoles. I guess there isn’t' much more to actually complain about beyond the fact that it most definitely won't be pushing the limits of any of the platforms it’s on. Music-wise things fare quite a bit better, as the soundtrack adds a cozy atmosphere that's hard to explain unless you're experiencing it yourself. I don't think I'd have played so much of the game if it wasn't for the relaxing music and sound effects, and the only negative I'd have to say would be that there isn't more of it. I don't want to give it too much credit, but it reminded me a lot of the type of soundtrack that would fit in with a farming game, and I'm totally here for that sort of vibe.

While Busway Islands may have a great gameplay loop accompanied by great music, it sadly is a fairly short experience. There are only 35 islands/puzzles to complete, and there isn't any real reason to play them again once you've cleared them. Even though some of the puzzles can take up to 10-20 minutes to clear, I think that most players will get through everything in about five or so hours at the very most. That is admittedly a very short completion time, but the price of the game also reflects the level of content it offers. At just $4.99 it's hard to be upset that one can potentially get through the entire game in a single afternoon. At least you know that said afternoon is going to be fun and relaxing!

Though it's a bit lighter on the content than I would've liked, I still give Busway Islands - Puzzle the fullest of recommendations. It's a fun little puzzle game that gives off the cozy vibes that are just what one needs when having to deal with problems of real life problems such as living in cities that have nowhere near the public transportation infrastructure of this game. Pick it up on whatever platform you can, and thank me later. I guess all we can do now is wait for a sequel... Until then, see you in the next one!

Check Out Busway Islands - Puzzle on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/busway-islands-puzzle-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: B+
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ A fun puzzle game that is simple to grasp while also being quite challenging.
+ Though each puzzle can feel very daunting at first, it can be quite refreshing to eventually find its solution.
+ The game's soundtrack adds a layer of relaxed cozy vibes that add to the overall experience.
+ Quick-moving and fun, it leaves players wanting more in the best way possible.
+ At just $4.99, picking it up is all but a no-brainer.

Cons:
- The controls seem poorly implemented for consoles.
- You'll find yourself fighting with the camera more often than not.
- The graphics leave a bit to be desired.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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