Review: Recursed

Written: 2026 June 15

Rating: 3/5

I gave this game a try due to its overwhelming positive reviews on Steam. However, after reaching the bottom row of levels in the Ruins, and trying a couple of the later levels, I'm not very impressed, and will drop the game here.

I have a couple major complaints. One is that the player needs to be able to visualize which rooms are which, despite all of them looking pretty much the same until you enter them. The other is much more of a subjective feeling that all the mechanics introduced feel forcibly gimmicky. Sometimes I asked myself "Why does work in this way?" and to me the answer very often feels like "because the dev wanted to design a level that only works if the mechanic is designed that way." The flip-side of this line of thinking is that the mechanics are all very precise, which could be a plus for some.

I feel of two ways with the level design. A lot of the levels begin with simply exploring, because you can't see all the rooms upon entering the level. You have to jump into each chest to see what's inside. This is used as a plus to lay out the initial thought process the designer wants a player to go through in order to solve the puzzle. Then the player tries the obvious solution (which doesn't work by design), and has to overcome this. However, I want to see it all up front, so I can get to analyzing the puzzle without "exploring." I think this exploring is a necessary feature to make this sort of game work, and unfortunately it also is the cause of a lot of "busywork" of jumping into levels and then leaving.

Finally, probably due to its early release date of 2016, there is one big glaring QOL feature missing: the ability to undo an action. Within the 6 hours or so of gameplay, I've accidentally soft-locked myself in various ways: walking off the edge/pressing jump too late, accidentally leaving a level when trying to pick up an item nearby the level exit, accidentally throwing my item and leaving when trying to leave the level with the item. This forces a full restart of the level.

Play Patrick's Parabox for an alternative recursive puzzle game.

Play Magicube for an alternative puzzle platforming game.

If you have the patience to re-play a level after making a dumb mistake, I think you'll be able to enjoy Recursed a lot more than me.