Trinkets do things such as grant you more energy at the start of a level, require you to find less children among plenty of other things. There are heaps of trinkets to collect so completionists will have their hands full. Your friendships can also eventually blossom into something more. My Ranger, after giving many gifts, eventually married one of the female townspeople. She then moved in to my house that the Mayor of the Village provided toward the start of the game. Since then she seems to just chill in the bedroom waiting for my hooded Ranger to come see her.

No-one will be able to pick this up and say it didn’t challenge them

As well as trinkets comes the ability to ban certain items from appearing in a level. You can only ban a couple of things, so it’s important to know what you have the most trouble with and make sure it doesn’t appear to hinder your progress. And there are plenty of different obstacles and creatures for you to come across so the sheer strategy required in Road Not Taken alone is enough to keep even the most strategic of minds occupied for hours.

I’m a little disappointed that once you “finish the game” you are just taken back to the beginning to start again. Replaying the earlier levels seems like quite a breeze and almost feel like filler to space out the time you are involved in the game.

Aesthetic Charm

Everything in Road Not Taken is designed so beautifully. From the mysterious melancholy story to the haunting soundtrack, all the way to the cute graphics and characters. As you play you’ll find yourself wanting to make more and more combinations of objects if only to see what gorgeous object they combine into.

Final Thoughts

Road Not Taken has a fairly high price tag compared to how much gameplay there is, but the gameplay you get feels very satisfying and challenging. If you’re a fan of being challenged to the point you start contemplating ripping your hair out, Road Not Taken is definitely something you should get. It’s certainly not the light hearted, so if you don’t think you can handle to the stresses of failing quite a lot, maybe you should start off with Triple Town and see how you go.

The sheer beauty of Road Not Taken is enough to download it and no-one will be able to pick this up and say it didn’t challenge them.

Score

4 stars – one of the cutest yet downright difficult games you will ever play