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Pardon the dust! This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. |
Review: Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:Your progress is automatically saved when you clear a stage. To pause, bring up the game's menu by pressing ESC. Time needed per session:Aside from being a short game, you can make decent progress in as little as a few minutes. This means there's no need to worry about fitting this game into your schedule.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians There really isn't anything too serious in this game. At most, the player character can either be melted or broken up by things they encounter, and this only results in restarting the puzzle. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/sugar_cube_bittersweet_factory_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/sugar_cube_bittersweet_factory_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/sugar_cube_bittersweet_factory_2.jpg)
Game Overview
Sugar Code: Bittersweet Factory is a puzzle platformer built around the concept of manipulating the stage itself in order to complete puzzles. To be more specific, every stage is made out of tiles with a "front" and a "back" side. Characters in the level, such as your character and any enemies, are only able to interact with the parts of the level that are facing you. In order to make progress, you'll need to figure out how to make a path to the exit by turning the tiles over.
Most of the time, you'll flip these tiles just by walking or jumping around. Your character has an "active aura" surrounding them that triggers the flipping mechanic, and if you need to keep the tiles stationary, this aura can be disabled temporarily by holding the appropriate key or button. There are also items on many stages that move your aura several spaces away from your character, allowing you to flip tiles you're not actually touching.
There is a little more to the gameplay than just flipping tiles however. Since your character is a lump of sugar, they are quite fragile and there are a lot of things that could hurt them. Touching spikes or any enemy will instantly destroy your character, and dripping water will slowly dissolve them. The latter can actually be a good thing, as it makes you small enough to slip into spaces you wouldn't be able to reach normally.
Overall, this is a short game with a simple premise, and it could easily have been great if it wasn't for one small problem: the difficulty curve is all over the place. Many levels are simply too easy, while others are surprisingly hard. There's no steady progression from easy levels to hard ones either, so it feels very unpolished.
But if you're willing to put up with that, I think fans of puzzle platformers might enjoy this game. That said, I'd suggest waiting for one of Steam's regular sales to come around before buying it - this game often goes on sale for a hefty discount.
Most of the time, you'll flip these tiles just by walking or jumping around. Your character has an "active aura" surrounding them that triggers the flipping mechanic, and if you need to keep the tiles stationary, this aura can be disabled temporarily by holding the appropriate key or button. There are also items on many stages that move your aura several spaces away from your character, allowing you to flip tiles you're not actually touching.
There is a little more to the gameplay than just flipping tiles however. Since your character is a lump of sugar, they are quite fragile and there are a lot of things that could hurt them. Touching spikes or any enemy will instantly destroy your character, and dripping water will slowly dissolve them. The latter can actually be a good thing, as it makes you small enough to slip into spaces you wouldn't be able to reach normally.
Overall, this is a short game with a simple premise, and it could easily have been great if it wasn't for one small problem: the difficulty curve is all over the place. Many levels are simply too easy, while others are surprisingly hard. There's no steady progression from easy levels to hard ones either, so it feels very unpolished.
But if you're willing to put up with that, I think fans of puzzle platformers might enjoy this game. That said, I'd suggest waiting for one of Steam's regular sales to come around before buying it - this game often goes on sale for a hefty discount.
Points of Interest
Unlockable hidden ending
Somewhere in each world is a sugar jewel. They are generally hidden in plain sight, but you'll need to both reach them and finish the level during the same attempt in order to keep them. If you manage to collect all of the sugar jewels, an extra cutscene will play after the ending.
90 Levels
There are five worlds to explore, each of which has 18 levels and focuses on a specific mechanic. The final level of each world is a "boss fight" of sorts - since you can't actually attack anything, you'll need to figure out how to outsmart the level's boss and reach the exit.
Steam community features
There's a set of Steam trading cards available for anyone who enjoys collecting them, and there are also 20 achievements to earn while playing. Most of these will be earned through your first playthrough, as they are awarded for completing sections or finding the sugar jewels.
But, there are also a set of achievements that are nearly impossible to earn, as they all require you to complete an entire set of levels without dying once.
But, there are also a set of achievements that are nearly impossible to earn, as they all require you to complete an entire set of levels without dying once.
Unpredictable difficulty
Normally, levels get progressively more difficult as you play. That's not the case here, and it may demoralize first-time players who are expecting later levels to always be more difficult. Or alternatively, since several levels are incredibly easy, it can give the game an appearance of being too simple to be worth the trouble.
Concerns and Issues
Sugar cubes don't have much chance
Since the player character cannot fight their enemies, the best you can do is dodge them. Getting caught just makes the cube person disappear and restarts the level, however, so there's no violent content to speak of beyond the fact that just about everything likes to eat sugar.
Downer ending
In the regular ending, your sugar cube escapes the factory and gets outside. Unfortunately, it's raining, so they immediately melt into a lifeless puddle. However, if you've collected the sugar jewels, an additional scene will play, where the sun will come out and take pity on your sugary puddle. This dries you up, and lets you evaporate to live high in the sunny skies forever.
Politics
At the end of the credits, the developers have left a message protesting how the Korean government treats video games. According to the developers, the government believes that gaming is a social evil, like drug use, so they refuse to support a Korean version of their software.
This may be referencing an obsolete policy, but all I could find was that Korean law requires games to have an age rating, similar to an ESRB rating. There were also a few articles pointing out that chronic gaming is becoming a serious problem there, and the government is taking steps to limit how much time younger people spend playing video games.
Frankly, complaining about this seems to be in poor taste, especially in a game that can be completed in an afternoon.
This may be referencing an obsolete policy, but all I could find was that Korean law requires games to have an age rating, similar to an ESRB rating. There were also a few articles pointing out that chronic gaming is becoming a serious problem there, and the government is taking steps to limit how much time younger people spend playing video games.
Frankly, complaining about this seems to be in poor taste, especially in a game that can be completed in an afternoon.