Sokobond

Sokobond is the first game published by Draknek & Friends, and one of the two games from them I hadn’t played yet (the other one being Sokobond Express).

As it is their first game, and judging by its cover, my expectations were quite low. I thought this would be a 3-4 hours easy game… but in truth, Sokobond is a lot deeper and already shows signs of what would become the trademark Draknek bonus (meta) puzzles.

The concept of Sokobond is to mix Sokoban and chemistry. Each level has you control an atom, and your goal is to correctly make connections with other atoms to form one (or more) molecule. The level ends when every atom has the right amount of connections, for example an hydrogen atom only needs 1 while a carbon atom needs 4.

Of course, the first area is kept very simple and only teaches you the basics. If the atom you control can bond, it will do so when going near another atom that can bond. That means you can go near an atom and push it if you can’t make a connection with it. Subsequent areas each introduce a special mechanic to spice things up and bring variety, you’ll be able to cut connections or rotate your unfinished molecule for example. Then once you’ve cleared these secondary introductions, you unlock new areas that mix these mechanics and raise the challenge.

The puzzles of Sokobond are small and smart, there’s usually a little trick to find much like a lot of Sokoban games. Sokobond especially likes to use the lack of room as a way to force you into making wrong connections. Your expanding molecule often ends up getting too large to fit in the tight corridors of the puzzles, making it impossible to reach certain atoms if you’re not careful.
I wouldn’t say the game is hard though, the levels are usually too small to get stuck. A few puzzles get really tricky, but overall Sokobond is a great introduction to Sokoban and you shouldn’t expect any very hard challenges.

Once you’ve cleared the game, there are 13 sigils to find. I only realized this was a thing thanks to the Steam achievements, otherwise you need to pay close attention at the last level, which is about creating multiple dihydrogen molecules. If you look at the top right corner, you’ll see a sigil appearing at the end of the puzzle. You need to replay every puzzle and find the 12 of them that have alternate solutions, puzzles that you can solve by making a dihydrogen molecule. This can be quite painful, and I would advise to just look at a guide to know which puzzles need to be replayed. Most of these alternate solutions are actually not hard to find at all and even easier than the normal one sometimes, but a few of them are REALLY tricky (yes, you The Monster!).

Sokobond is a very good game. Polished, original, varied, smart, accessible, the mechanics are well exploited, there’s some postgame content…
Whether you’re a beginner who wants to improve or a veteran who wants to have fun, Sokobond is well worth playing.

Recommended.

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Developers: Alan Hazelden, Lee Shang Lun
Publisher: Draknek & Friends
Platforms: Steam – Windows/macOS/Linux, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS
Release Date: August 21, 2013