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Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle review - An excellent puzzler with meat on its bones

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Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle review - An excellent puzzler with meat on its bones

At their core, sliding puzzlers are all pretty much cut from the same cloth. It's the design and extra mechanics are what make a good puzzler great.

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle builds on its predecessor, Slayaway Camp, offering up more murders, more gore, and more clever challenges to fill in those quieter moments of your day.

Mother knows best

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is an isometric sliding puzzler where you play as Jason Voorhees, the famous murderer from the film series with the same name (excluding the first, of course).

You work through 12 chapters, each with 13 levels, across different situations and terrains. If you're not killing kids and camp counsellors, you're taking out inmates, holiday-makers, and more.

If you're looking for a less bloody experience you can choose between R-rated content and a more family-friendly take on it.

The levels are small, but can have complex solutions which aren't that obvious. After you play through the first bunch, the game adds more hazards and mechanics which gives you more ways to go about solving the puzzle / ending the lives.

Fires, holes, water, armed guards, and more could end your reign of terror as much as they could end your victims, so you've got to tread around them carefully.

Though there are no timers and free movement in the average level, occasionally you face a level with limited moves just to ramp up the pressure.

If you're having trouble you can click on your mother's head to get a hint, see the solution, or skip the level altogether. If you haven't unlocked the game ad-free, you only have to watch an advert to get what you need.

Always listen to mother

The monetisation Blue Wizard Digital has used is extremely well thought-out for a free to play game. You get an advert at the end of each chapter, but can watch additional adverts for hints or to boost your bloodlust and level up.

Additionally you can purchase cosmetic items, like skins and weapons to use and trade. Any purchase from the store gets rid of all adverts, but if you don't want to spend a penny you can unlock weapons and skins as you play.

The levels are shorts and sweet enough that you can really lose time in it, but none of the IAPs effect your experience or the performance of the game. This means you're never pressured into spending your cash, which is always a plus.

There are a few extra levels that can be purchased at the end of the game, but you've got Daily Death mode to keep you coming back for more each day.

It doesn't build much on Slayaway Camp's original formula, so if you didn't like that game, you probably won't be too stoked about this one.

Still, Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is a cracking addition to any puzzle-lover's library and though its levels aren't particularly long, it's still an addictive mass of fun.

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle review - An excellent puzzler with meat on its bones

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is a familiar ride, but it's no less enjoyable than its predecessor
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Emily Sowden
Emily Sowden
Emily is Pocket Gamer's News Editor and writes about all kinds of game-related things. She needs coffee to function and begrudgingly loves her Switch more than she lets on.