Duplicado

Duplicado is a peaceful and relaxing puzzle game very similar to the Quell series. The Quell games have sliding puzzles sliding puzzles in which the objective is to move a ball in a way that it reaches a certain tile so that it picks up a pearl on the way, with the restriction that once a direction is chosen, the ball will stop moving into that direction only when it encounters an obstacle (a wall).

Duplicado borrows this sliding mechanic but adds a few new unique ones that reshape the gameplay a bit. The objective here is to move an avocado seed (the “ball”) until it reaches a plot of land or water, allowing it to transform into a tree, which will serve as a wall tile / obstacle. Additionally, the movement of an avocado core can be stopped not only by the border of the level but also by an avocado shell that follows the same sliding mechanic as the seed. However, it will stop the seed by containing it in that tile. While in Quell games, there is only one ball per level, Duplicado’s levels can contain multiple avocado seeds and, respectively, tiles that they should be planted in. With each planted seed, the configuration of the level changes; thus, not only does the sequence of moves matter, but also the order in which you chose to plant them.

There are four sequentially unlocked difficulty options: accessing the “Casual” (average) difficulty mode can be done only after you solve 25 puzzles in ”Beginner” mode, and the “Challenge” + “Seeds Only” difficulty modes are available only after you solve 30 Casual levels. A skip option is available for any levels that you find too difficult to solve. Duplicado’s levels are procedurally generated. There’s also a feature to share a level or play a certain level based on a shared code as long as you have already unlocked its corresponding difficulty mode.

Duplicado has great audio and visual presentation and a very decent mix of easy and challenging puzzles. Some of the levels will be brain-wrecking yet deeply rewarding, while others will feel like a stroll in the park. It’s overall an easy-to-pick-up puzzle game with a great Zen-like atmosphere and very pleasant gameplay. On top of all the factors already mentioned, the infinite replayability value of the randomly generated levels that keeps the gameplay always fresh makes it well worth the asking price of $3.