Review | Freshly Frosted

Review | Freshly Frosted

LifeisXbox’s Freshly Frosted Review | Get ready and prepped to run your very own doughnut factory, use different mechanics, and make sure every doughnut has its rightful topping, making its way to the end of the conveyor belt in Freshly Frosted. You follow a female character who is simply trying to relax and organise the thoughts in her head. Lucky for most people, with her love for doughnuts, you get transported to a beautiful doughnut factory that she imagines where you’re put to work straight away. Making a variety of doughnuts, that require us to create different routes so they can successfully reach their final destination, will be your goal while making sure they don’t get stuck, miscreated, or sent to the wrong delivery counter along the way. Freshly Frosted has been published and developed by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, bringing us a tranquil but challenging puzzle game that will test your ability to forward plan and execute a clear route correctly.

ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox One S | Review code provided by PR/publisher. This review is the personal opinion of the writer.

What we Liked!

  • Forward-thinking puzzles | With twelve boxes all consisting of twelve levels each for your entertainment in Freshly Frosted, there are plenty of puzzles to keep you going that sometimes take quite some brainpower to figure out; at least in my opinion. They have been created in a way that makes you plan the level in your head before committing to inputting your conclusion. Levels will have you second-guessing whether your system will work and have you creating all sorts of obscure paths, ensuring every doughnut gets delivered to its rightful end. I always think this style of puzzle game works well but in Freshly Frosted, it goes that step beyond to keep you addicted to the chaotic factory.
  • Change in mechanics | After each box has been completed, a new mechanic will be introduced in the following. Whether this means duplicating and teleporting doughnuts or dividers and pushers, you’ll have many to learn and get to grasp that ultimately kept the game feeling fresh – no pun intended. It does mean you will need to think of using conveyor belts in more of a methodical way for some future levels. All of the mechanics have been smoothly incorporated to not be too complicated or overwhelming thus giving a sense of welcome change as you progress through each delicious-looking box.
  • Light-toned graphics | One element that indubitably made Freshly Frosted as enjoyable and calm as it was had to be the overall appearance. The light hue of pastel colouring along with small pops of colour created a match made in heaven, making every moment pleasant to play. The actual graphic approach to Freshly Frosted was somewhat minimal and exceptionally cute. Seeing all the doughnuts make their important journeys to topping stations and the delivery counter was quite mesmerising to watch if I do say so myself. 
  • Catchy background music | Music that gets you clapping along and head bobbing with the background beat can only be a positive thing, right? Well, that’s what I spent excessive amounts of my time doing while playing Freshly Frosted. It just suited the theme and style of the game to a tee and I don’t believe could have been any better. You have the calmer music while actively playing out each level and then another when you finalise your layout, suiting the calm-thoughtful gaming and the celebratory ending when a level is successfully completed.
  • Straightforward controls | With the ease of the controls used in Freshly Frosted, I would say it would be extremely easy to play with no complications found during my gameplay. As mechanics are built into the game as you progress and there also aren’t a great number of command inputs, the game is easy to pick up and play whenever you should decide to have a break and come back to it.

Mixed Feelings

  • Friendly narrative | Throughout the entirety of Freshly Frosted, you are greeted by a female voice at the beginning of every level, the girl whose mind we appear to be in. They sound extremely composed and hearing the voice instantly soothed me, especially during the more complex levels. Always having something cute to say, they also assist you during your gameplay – helping by letting you know what needs to be corrected or reminding you of controls to use. I would have liked to know more about this character as they are with you through every level of the game which could have paved the way for a background story to listen to/connect with while you’re hard at work.

What we Disliked

  • Difficulty hikes | I believe the only criticism I have for Freshly Frosted is the way level difficulty has been distributed. I did find some later levels easier than previous levels and vice versa. I did put this down to the changing mechanics as again, I found a few of the later game mechanics could be easier than some of the earlier ones. Obviously with each set of levels that are completed you get taught another element of working in the factory that does, in most cases, make level one of a box easier than level twelve. However, as this wasn’t always the case in the middle levels, it did at times feel the levels could have been ordered differently.

How long to beat the story | Approximately 6-8 Hours
How long to achieve 1000G | Approximately 6-8 Hours

VERDICT
86%

Overall, Freshly Frosted is without a doubt one of the most enjoyable puzzle games I have played. With the combination of lovable visuals and catchy music along with the setting of the doughnut factory itself, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a simple concept puzzle game that will have you racking your brains and getting to grips with plenty of new mechanics over a decent amount of levels. I mean, who doesn’t want to work and manage their very own doughnut factory?!

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