App Army Reviews: Fragile Mind Puzzle Game

This week, we put our App Army's puzzling prowess through its paces in A Fragile Mind
The game received a mixed reception from our community
Some praised the enjoyably difficult puzzles and humour while others felt the presentation let it down

A Fragile Mind is a recently released puzzle adventure from developer Glitch Games. It draws upon the classic escape room approach but throws in a bit of humour to give everything some brevity. We handed the game over to our App Army readers to see what they thought of it.
Here's what they said:
Swapnil Jadhav
Honestly, after looking icon of the game, I thought it must be a very boring game since the logo looked quite old. However, after playing it, I found the gameplay very unique and it made for a different kind of puzzle adventure.
The puzzles are hard but very engaging. One of the best puzzle games. I don't want to reveal a lot but my recommendation would be to play this game on iPad or any other tablet.

Max Williams
This is a point-and-click puzzle adventure, of the 'static pre-rendered imagery' type. I have no idea what the narrative is, if one even exists. Each chapter comprises a building floor, and you must solve a series of increasingly complex puzzles to advance. Perhaps unusually for this genre, you can proceed to the next floor without solving all puzzles on the current one; indeed, some puzzles are inaccessible until you acquire items from subsequent floors.

There's some clever 4th-wall-breaking: inspecting an item reveals its graphic "lacks detail to be significant," for instance. I appreciated the hints, though perhaps they could be less readily available: you can access them rapidly, and solved puzzles automatically remove related hints, thus constantly guiding you. I reached the third floor before needing to frequently utilize hints.

Generally, the puzzles are of the "easily understood once solved" variety - I didn't see any which seemed overly obscure or arbitrary. This game's developer has clearly extensive experience with this style of game and truly understands their craft. I did find the navigation somewhat disorienting - moving between rooms and hallways, especially when rooms connected back to the hallway through another room, it became difficult to track my location. But that's a minor inconvenience really.

Overall I'd say that this won't sway those who dislike this genre, but it's a superb example of the genre. I'm definitely going to continue playing.
Robert Maines
A Fragile Mind is a first-person puzzle adventure where you awaken inside a garden within a building with no memory of your identity or location. As you explore the building you must take photos, and discover items and clues that help you solve puzzles to advance.

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Although nothing spectacular in the visuals and audio, they suffice. I found the puzzles quite challenging and had to use a walkthrough occasionally. It’s not a lengthy game, and once finished, there’s little reason to replay it. If you enjoy puzzle adventures, it’s worthwhile.
Torbjörn Kämblad
Escape-the-room style puzzlers have been among my most enjoyable mobile gaming experiences. Find objects, solve clever puzzles and navigate between rooms. The genre's games vary in quality, and unfortunately, I found A Fragile Mind! to be subpar.

The presentation feels somewhat unclear, hindering puzzle element and puzzle identification. Coupled with some UI design flaws, such as the menu button's placement in the top-left corner—making accidental taps extremely common—the gameplay feels somewhat cumbersome.

The pacing is also a bit off, in my opinion, as I gained access to too many puzzles initially, making it hard to get one’s bearings. I felt lost and had to use the handy hint system from the outset just to get my bearings.
Mark Abukoff
I don’t usually enjoy these puzzle games because they often seem quite challenging and the reward never seems quite worth the effort. But I really am quite pleased with this one. Plenty of audio and visual options are available. I like the aesthetic and the atmosphere. The clues and puzzles were intriguing and I like the hint system. Honestly, I often use hint systems in puzzle games and this is a good one. It’ll tell you what you need to do and, if you’re still stuck, offer to show you the solution. Overall, a really good (if fairly short) experience for the small price. Recommended!
Diane Close
Imagine you wake up in your car, disoriented, late at night, in front of an abandoned circus. There’s a note pinned to the passenger seat: “It’s in the trunk!” You grab the pin, exit the car, and open the trunk. There’s a feather and a razor blade. You take both. You approach the circus entrance where suddenly you’re confronted by a giant elephant! Watching the giant beast, it slowly dawns on you that elephants have trunks too.

This is what it’s like (spoiler-free!) to play “A Fragile Mind”. I’ve played numerous titles like this, on iOS and Android, but Glitch Games has raised the bar here by layering puzzles upon puzzles like a colossal Jenga game. Every room you visit presents multiple clues for multiple puzzles and you need to meticulously examine them all separately and concurrently to progress the narrative. Take in-game photos and physical notes frequently!

Plays flawlessly on Android (Google Pixel phones). Boasts a wealth of visual and audio options, which I truly appreciate. Excellent accessibility options too! The gameplay lasts about an hour for adept puzzle solvers, and there’s a substantial amount of in-game humor/puns along the way too. I enjoyed it!
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