Understand

Understand is a rule-discovery game about figuring out line-drawing logic on a grid from limited information. The game is divided into small sets of levels where the symbols on the grid enforce a consistent logic—but once you’re done with a set, the next one switches to new, undetermined rules again. As such, Understand is an abstract challenge in lateral thinking above all.

Each level is a small grid that contains a number of geometric shapes. Within a given set of levels, each shape is bound to one undisclosed line-drawing rule. For instance, you might have to start your line on a circle, end it on a square, and avoid all triangles in between. The puzzle is not so much about applying the rules as it is about pinpointing them through trial and error, drawing multiples lines to test your conjectures.

Even though Understand can be tricky, there is often a dotted line already drawn on the first grid to get you started in a set. The main clues, however, come in the form of a few dots at the bottom of the screen. Each dot represents one of the rules in the current set. Depending on the requirements that your current line meets, the dots will be displayed either full or empty. Once all dots are filled in, you’ve completed the puzzle!

The final puzzle of a set acts as a more difficult knowledge check. The individual dots are gone; you’re only told once all rules are properly met. You may have to go back and study the previous grids to make sure you know how to handle each shape. Clearing a level in Understand means you’ve correctly applied the rules, but in order to find out about them, you’ll repeatedly have to think outside the box.

Understand has a clean, minimalist, geometric design, which puts the experimenting gameplay front and center. But don’t let these bare-bones visuals deceive you. As you make progress through the game, you’ll unlock new thematic areas that will keep broadening the possibilities to consider and expanding the space you play in.

This description was written by Cay Macres.