There are a few indie games that rise up and become endlessly popular over the course of the year while many others end up staying under the radar. While it isn't necessarily taking the world by storm, one puzzle game that has gotten some attention as of late is Freshly Frosted.
A delightful game from the people over at The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, players are tasked with creating working donut factories by placing conveyor belts that properly prepare the delicious treat. There are many ways to approach how to build a factory, so it's important to have a few tips in mind while jumping in for the first time.
7 Hints Won't Spoil The Solution, But They Do Help
Freshly Frosted is the type of puzzle game that wants its players to not stress too much about the solution. Because of this, the developers added a "Show Hint" feature to the pause menu to help anyone who is struggling to figure out how to get their conveyor belt started.
The hint will automatically remove any previously placed paths that the player put down and will then put down a couple of pieces facing in a direction to help lead the player in the direction that they want to go with the puzzle. It doesn't outright tell the player what they have to do, but it at least gives them a good idea of where to go with it.
6 Don't Worry About The Narration
The story of Freshly Frosted is actually about daydreaming. Players will listen as an individual will describe dreaming about a donut factory and all the levels are set in donut boxes in the clouds. This adds to the calming aesthetic that the game is trying to go for.
While the narrator does help the player get an early idea of how the mechanics of the game work, the narration becomes more of a secondary aspect of the experience. In other words, unless she is trying to tell the player about newly introduced aspects of the puzzle, the narration doesn't have any major lore that players need to keep track of.
5 The Obvious Path Isn't Always Correct
When approaching a puzzle, it is very easy to be able to look at the layout and think the solution is right there for the taking. Unfortunately, Freshly Frosteddoesn't always work like this and can be mind-boggling at times. When players think they are moving a conveyor belt in the right direction, they may realize that they are blocking off certain machines.
The easiest way to avoid doing this is to automatically look out for alternative paths as they may end up being the correct solution when the seemingly obvious path doesn't quite work out as initially hoped. This is also a place where the hint system could help as it may indicate that initial impressions of the puzzle were wrong.
4 Not All Machines Must Be Used
Later in the game, players will be faced with levels that have a lot of machines on it, making it seem like every single one of them must be used. There are certainly situations where that will be the case and players will need to keep that in mind. But in general, there are solutions that don't require every machine laid out.
A great example of this is in levels where conveyor belts may merge into one to leave the level in one place. When this is the case, players may be able to have machines sitting idle and that would still lead to the game calling that level complete.
3 The Machines Will Recognize A Donut's Toppings
Freshly Frosted will get more complicated as the game goes on, but the core concept that players will need to keep in mind is that there are four potential layers that a donut can have: icing, sprinkles, whipped cream, and cherries. Luckily, this aspect of the game is straightforward. For example, icing must be present for donuts to get sprinkles.
Whenever the game asks for a donut with whipped cream on it, that means players need to put icing and sprinkles on it first. With cherries, players must have whipped cream on the donut. This order is embedded into the game's design, meaning players can go past a whipped cream machine if the donut has nothing on it or just icing.
2 Fast Forward Through Long Conveyor Belts
Completing a puzzle in Freshly Frosted is among the more satisfying achievements thanks to all the pomp and circumstance around it. After starting up a successful factory, the lo-fi music that was playing in the background swells into a joyous romp as the factory moves to the beat.
This can be a lot of fun to watch unfold, but it would be understandable for those who are in a rush to want to get to the next puzzle as soon as possible. Luckily, there is a button that the game will let players know about that fast forwards to whether or not the puzzle is complete or not.
1 Difficult Puzzles Can Be Skipped
From the jump, it is very clear that Freshly Frosted is meant to give off chill vibes. That said, this doesn't mean the game avoids getting very difficult down the stretch. There may be a point while attempting to solve a puzzle that even the hint doesn't make clear what the next step should be.
Fortunately, the game is very forgiving of this idea. Those who don't want to be stuck on a puzzle forever and want to progress forward can simply skip the puzzle from the pause menu. Doing this will advance the player forward with the ability to go backward at any time and complete what was missed earlier.
Freshly Frosted is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.