Another unique release by Nakana.io, Please, Touch The Artwork stands out in their library of experience-driven titles. Instead of telling a deep story or providing a different type of gameplay experience, this touchscreen based puzzle game is a casual outing that leans into the modern art aesthetic. 

It is important to mention that this digital eShop release is only compatible with the Switch’s touchscreen. Docked Pro Controller players like myself be warned as you’ll need to get up from your comfy recliner and actually hold the system. 

Upon initially starting the game, the overall interface is confusing as the player is greeted by a museum curator who asks the player a bunch of questions. After some dialog choices, the actual game begins with a random puzzle. At first, this museum interface had me scratching my head as I had to no idea what was happening but became clear after playing for a few minutes. This is a puzzle game about modern art and the overall presentation fully embraces this.

Ultimately there are three types of puzzles: one involves making lines, another has the player adding color to specific sections of a painting like using the paint can tool in Photoshop, and the final puzzle tasks players with connecting dots to boxes. This might sound a little silly or even childish on paper, but I can ensure you that it is much deeper than you might realize. 

There are dozens of puzzles available in each category and the game appropriately paces the difficulty.  The first few stages are there so you can understand how each puzzle works and then eventually ramps up to highly difficult levels. Thankfully, the game features a built-in hint system if you get stuck, which is easy to use and literally gives you the answer in a step-by-step process, so those tricky puzzles won’t make you rage quit and you won’t need to resort to YouTube. 

The goal is to make the art panel on the right look like the panel on the left. In the first batch of puzzles, the player needs to tap the screen to fit the art pattern with lines so proper sequence is important as perpendicular lines intersect parallel ones. The second set of puzzles has the player tapping the screen to fill each connecting section with a color. Every handful of puzzles, another color is introduced which adds to the complexity. Again, proper sequence is critical. The final roster of puzzles requires dots to be reunited with their boxes, tapping them to move toward their end point. There are no complicated touchscreen flicks or swipes to master, nor is there any sort of a timer or leaderboard, so the experience remains casual and laid back. 

Please, Touch the Artwork deserves credit for being something different.  Although it is basically three different types of touch-based mobile games in one, the casual puzzle solving and modern art museum presentation works together in sync to create a single player puzzle experience anyone can pick up, play, and enjoy. Modern art can sometimes get called out for being peculiar and this unique puzzle game is no different.  If you tire of match-4s, crushing candy, and making rows of lines from rotating falling pieces, this is a puzzle game that is easily recommended for being unique, creative, and gentle.   

There is a free demo available on the Switch eShop if you wanted to try this unique puzzle title for yourself.

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