Bytten Ernie Awards 2006

Best Puzzle Game

Fusion by InsanePlay

We receive a lot of puzzle games each year at Bytten but it is rare for them to stand out enough to gain Gold ratings. The main reason for this lacklustre performance of the genre is simple: originality. No matter how you dress it, a puzzle game is almost always a variation on a previously released game, and generally you have little room for original ideas as you risk breaking the original puzzle element.

Step forward Fusion, a tile game that does everything just right. Audio and visual aspects are excellent, making it an instantly appealing game, and the game is extremely well presented. Fusion truly excels in its style, pace and playability and makes for a fun and pleasant game experience that lifts the whole puzzle genre up a level.

Fusion is the benchmark game I use to test all other puzzle games against in my reviews leaving those other games with a lot to live up to!

Best Game Title

The Prodigious Escapee by FunPCGames

If I could give indie developers just one piece of advice it would be to give any newly created game a good title. In many cases it isn't the name of the game that will sell it but it might be the difference between a user downloading your demo or passing you by completely.

The Prodigious Escapee is a fantastic name for a game, certainly not one that you would forget and definately a title that draws attention. Whilst the great title doesn't lift the game up into Silver or Gold rating status, it remains a game that I'll likely remember in 10 years time, much like the classic Attack of the Mutant Camels or recent indie game Von Puttyngton vs. The Cancerous MC Escher.