Factotum 90 is a 3D puzzler from TACS Games now available on PS4 and Vita. Learn more about it in our Factotum 90 review!

 

As you can see from the game’s screens, it’s not the prettiest game around, but it more than makes up for it in solid gameplay mechanics and the fun puzzles you’ll need to solve. The game is a bit short, but the trophy list is a little grindy list, but not by much. The goal is to manipulate the environment to reach the exit to the next level. You play as a four legged yellow squared robot and can move the robot in any direction you want.

The movement is inverted, so you’ll need to get the hang of things before you can start to solve its puzzles. The robot is capable of picking up and putting down objects as needed, and it can also interact with computer terminals to activate mechanisms. At first I thought the game was a co-op release because of the split-screen, but it turns you will need to alternate between controlling the robots to solve the puzzles.

The story is based on a large ship, again think Red Dwarf, by the way if you haven’t seen it, it’s a must!! Back to the story, the ship has gotten stuck in an asteroid field and got hit by one of the asteroids and the ship sustained heavy damage so life support has taken a bad hit so the crew have very little air to breath, and on top of that there is standard debris strewn around the ship and the computer terminals are in need of repairs, so our little robot guy has his work cut out for him. So in a nutshell your job is to fix the ship and get it running again, and that is where the puzzles come in!

If at any point you realize you have made a mistake or two, you’ll have an option to reset the level so that you can have another go. This isn’t a full reset per se since you can reset portions of a stage so that you don’t have to start all over again – not bad, huh?

The first few puzzles are very easy and function as an extended tutorial, but as you progress the puzzles start to become more complicated, so you’ll need to make every move count as you control both robots. You might be asked to activate switches with one robot so that the other one can reach a computer terminal that will in turn open the way for the other robot to activate a switch that will open the final path to the exit. While at first glance some levels might seem impossible to solve, worry not as all levels have a solution you can find from some trial and error here and there. Most of the time, you’re probably not seeing a switch or two you need to interact with, so be sure to search everywhere!

Factotum 90 is a fun puzzler with solid gameplay mechanics and an ever increasing difficulty that feels just right. You’ll need to take it slow as you solve the smaller puzzles that will eventually allow you to exit a stage, and the game’s trophy list is very rewarding. If you’re looking for an entertaining 3D puzzler on PS4 then you should definitely check out Factotum 90!

Disclaimer
This Factotum 90 review is based on a PS4 copy provided by TACS Games.