The mechanics are very easy to understand and never is the puzzle put before you in any way abstract. All puzzles are of the logic -this then that- type without much, or any, out of the box thinking. As a result the puzzles are on the easy side of things. Only twice I had absolutely no clue as to which approach was needed. Luckily such moments can be skipped and the next puzzle is then presented. I have no idea how often this can be done, as I only needed it twice in the entire game. It can of course be used to skip a momentarily insurmountable hurdle so to come back to that puzzle at a later time. All completed and skipped puzzles are accessible from the menu, but not the ones further in game. In all the puzzles are extremely straightforward and entail at max two logic steps in sequence or simultaneous to solve. The greatest merit in this game lies in that exact fact: no obscure or abstract steps are present and even young children can tackle the game. For clever people, there is not much challenge. Graphics wise it is is just above 16-bit grade and the only interactive component is the puzzle box itself.

A simple in approach and I enjoyed the presentation side of the game because in a way both the visuals and sound design had a calmness about them. For me they had the perfect balance when it came to the difficulty of the puzzles and by easing me in gently I never became frustrated. There’s a decent variety of puzzles for you to get to grips with in the game and for the most part they felt satisfying to complete. In terms of content I think they’ve got it spot on because it never outstays its welcome due to the perfect length of the game. It would’ve been nice to have had something in the way of a story because that would’ve made me even more immersed in the gameplay. While I really enjoyed the puzzles in the game I never really felt truly challenged much. The controls didn’t always click where I wanted to them to click which did make me become a little annoyed from time to time. Sometimes a title **** is misleading and without a doubt Access Denied isn’t what I expected it to be. That however isn’t a bad thing sometimes and whilst it wasn’t what I expected as far as puzzle games go this is a pretty decent addition to the Xbox One game library. Obviously then with this being a puzzle game the most important thing is its puzzles and I’m pleased to say that they’ve done a good job here. Each puzzle has enough variety within them to keep the gameplay fresh and whilst it would’ve been nice to have been challenged a little more I appreciated how they eased me in gently in regards to the puzzles. I also appreciate the amount of content available as well because I find games of this ilk often oustay there welcome but that’s not the case here because the length is perfect. In terms of problems the game doesn’t have too many and the only real issue I had was that the controls didn’t always feel as responsive as they should’ve been. A bit of a story would’ve been nice as well but this wasn’t much of a problem really. At the end of the day then Access Denied is a fun little game that would be perfect for anybody who loves puzzle games. It’s also a game that never becomes too overbearing so frustrating moments are limited and if that sounds good to you then I recommend that you give Access Denied a try. Thumbs up!