I’ve been trying to diet for a while now. Over the pandemic I put on a few pounds – more like a few stone – and I’ve been attempting to burn them off with unhealthy amounts of Ring Fit adventure and disgustingly unnatural kale smoothies. It was going well until I discovered Freshly Frosted, the latest in my cosy puzzle game obsession. While games like the brilliant Side Decide simply managed to entertain me for many hours, Freshly Frosted managed to simultaneously restore my cravings for doughnuts and offer me one of the most relaxing and eternally replayable puzzle games I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
“It became genuinely enthralling to solve each of Freshly Frosted’s 144 puzzles.”
Freshly Frosted is a simple-by-design puzzle game entirely themed around the delightfully delectable doughnuts. Your job is to help distract the narrator by solving complex doughnut-related puzzles in her head. You’ll have to connect a doughnut maker with its receiver, ensuring to wind the conveyor belt through the correct order of ingredients in the process. It may sound challenging, however, the game does a phenomenal job of easing you into each of its mechanics, and offers plenty of opportunities to learn the ropes before throwing you into the creamy deep end.
What makes the entire experience so enjoyable, aside from its gorgeously colourful visuals, is the expertly crafted puzzles you’ll encounter in each level. There’s a craftiness to some, deceiving you with simple solutions only to block you at the very last moment. Imagine each puzzle as if it were a game of snake. Your conveyor belts must reach their intended destination and cannot overlap at any point. Should they connect with the incorrect space, the doughnuts will be diverted and end up with cherries before cream. That will simply not do!
I found myself sinking into the cosy experience almost immediately. The upbeat and refreshingly chipper music kept me going as I positioned the various pieces around the cleverly designed board. It became genuinely enthralling to solve each of Freshly Frosted’s 144 puzzles, with each one introducing me to a dynamically different challenge that proved to be worth my time. Simply put, Freshly Frosted is a gorgeous and expertly designed puzzle game that manages to be both accessibly challenging and brilliantly clever.
“The lack of any tangible score beyond completing a level is blissfully sanguine.”
Perhaps what makes Freshly Frosted such an appealing experience is its laidback attitude to scores. No matter how many moves it takes you to figure out a puzzle, the game will not penalise you. Nor will it keep a tab and show you at the end as if its primary function is to shame you. This may put off high score chasers, and that’s understandable. You won’t see that alluring silver S – or more likely a C in my case – whenever you complete a level. However, as I’ve alluded to, this is a huge positive in my eyes.
The lack of any tangible score beyond the simple fact that you complete a level or an entire box of doughnuts, is blissfully sanguine. It removes a lot of the stress typically associated with this genre and prevents frustration over minor mistakes. Freshly Frosted offers you the freedom to solve each of its perfectly crafted puzzles at your own pace. You may make as many mistakes as you wish, Freshly Frosted will simply give you a pat on the back and offer you a hot new doughnut when you’re done.
To elevate this sense of freedom further, Freshly Frosted offers you a genuinely helpful hint and the option to skip puzzles entirely. Gone are the days of wasting hours at a time desperately searching for a solution to an especially tricky puzzle. Instead, should you be incapable of solving one of the many doughnut themed puzzles in Freshly Frosted, you may just move on and come back to it at a later date.
“Freshly Frosted is an immaculate puzzle game, and one absolutely deserving of your time.”
Honestly, I can’t really find fault with Freshly Frosted. It offers an enormous amount of content for a very reasonable price. Despite only taking a handful of hours to see to the end, I found myself replaying it even after the credits had rolled. The lack of any scores to chase didn’t dissuade me from heading back in. Its peaceful atmosphere, jovial tone and engrossing gameplay could keep me entertained for hours without it feeling as if even a second had gone by.
Freshly Frosted is an exceptional puzzle experience. Sure, it may see you irresponsibly buy a pack of 12 doughnuts and devour the entire thing alone. But, honestly, ruining my diet to play this beautifully created game was absolutely worth it. Its ability to prioritise the player experience and not have a ludicrous assumption that all players want a needlessly challenging game is commendable. Its simple yet intuitive gameplay is masterful and worthy of extreme praise. And, of course, its gorgeous visuals will forever comfort me in dark moments. I simply cannot state this enough, Freshly Frosted is an immaculate puzzle game, and one absolutely deserving of your time.
You can pick up Freshly Frosted over for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Steam. It costs $8.99/£7.19 and is currently having a 10% sale until June 17th.
*Disclaimer: Reviewed on Xbox Series S, code was provided by the Publisher.
