(note: I wrote this as a "review," but the way reviews on the site work means I can't format it as one? So this will have to do.)

Once Braid and Limbo kicked off the indie puzzle scene, an arms race of increasingly wild gameplay concepts began. We’ve gone from manipulating time to literally rewriting the rules of reality. Heavy stuff! Creaks from Amanita Design doesn’t have a radical hook to make it stand out; rather, it uses a few intuitive concepts with great proficiency. It may not be the flashiest puzzler out there, but Creaks is an engaging, atmospheric delight that should belong in any indie fan’s library.

Despite what I just said, Creaks has a slow opening which may mislead players. The game begins with the player character trying to get some work done late at night (He doesn’t seem to have a name, but he does bear a resemblance to Braid’s protagonist. Perhaps a cousin?). Rumblings underground uncover a hole in his wall which leads to an underground city that’s dark, seemingly abandoned, and, well… creaky. It’s populated with both hostile creatures and rather quirky bird folks.

Quickly, the game introduces its first puzzle mechanics. The man gets around using hundreds of ladders in the underground megastructure. He can also jump across and down small gaps. Cranky mechanical guard dogs will chase the man down, but they will stop before beams of light and elevation changes. The first puzzles require baiting these dogs to pressure plates or away from switches to progress. When the dogs are caught under the light, they transform into harmless dressers. The man can push them and climb on top to reach high ladders.

Creaks’s visually dark artwork and aggressive enemies give the first hour of the game an uneasy feel. Before I began playing, part of me thought it was a horror game. This is what I mean by a misleading opening. The tone established at the start doesn’t quite match what the game evolves into. Fortunately, it only gets more fun as it continues. After the slow opening, more mechanics and story sequences are peppered in. It wasn’t until the second type of enemy was introduced that I really became invested. Starting then, the pace and variety in the rest of the game is fantastic.

The game is segmented into about 40 puzzle rooms. While this may seem like a step back from the interconnected worlds of previous Amanita games, the result is something that is easy to pick up and play. In fact, compared to some others in the genre, Creaks’s puzzles are downright friendly. The first few building blocks are used every time: ladders, light, and switches. What changes are the creatures that must be manipulated. They interact and compound in engaging ways, so each subsequent puzzle is a fresh experience.

Still, the puzzles themselves are very manageable. I suck at puzzle games, and I only got stumped once, at the midpoint. Even then, it was an issue of not knowing what to do rather than how to do it. The difficulty curves is built so that big thinkers should have little trouble. This keeps the pace quick and stops boredom from ever setting in. As the game progresses, the ladders lead further and further down, with environments becoming ever curiouser.

Between puzzles, there are paintings to interact with. They have mechanical components, which means that some are little minigames. These can be awkward to control, but the stiff clockwork figures inside make it seem intentional. They are neat distractions, showing stories about the bird society interacting with humanity, but they are also totally skippable. I found them more charming than annoying most of the time.

Amanita’s art style has always struck me as inspired by Terry Gilliam, albeit with the surrealism and violence toned down. It works to good effect here. The highlights are the environments, which have a lot of small details, and the very expressive characters. Cutscenes are fun to watch as the birds hop around communicating through body language and short vocalizations. It all culminates in a rather satisfying ending segment that comes at the perfect time.

I’ve tried to avoid writing too specifically about the game to preserve as much discovery as possible. Creaks won’t blow anyone’s mind. However, what it does is executed so well that fun is an unavoidable result. The indie game fire hose is constantly on full blast, but Creaks shouldn’t be ignored in the deluge. Curl up with a blanket, put on some headphones, and enjoy some puzzles down below.