Nairi: Tower of Shirin by developer Home Bear Studio is a point-and-click puzzle game that sees the game’s protagonist, Nairi, on a mission to rescue her parents after they were captured. After avoiding capture herself, Nairi finds herself in a variety of scenarios that involve outwitting cat bandits, making friends with scoundrels, and discovering an ancient secret with new-found confidant, and exiled cat bandit extraordinaire, Rex. And this doesn’t include all the puzzles Nairi must complete along the way.
Despite being largely a puzzle game, Nairi: Tower of Shirin could easily pass for a Visual Novel due to its presentation: instead of using animation, the game uses a variety of still images to portray character emotions and interactions. While beautiful, the backgrounds remain static. There’s also a lot of reading involved. These are not negatives, of course. They help the game maintain its storybook appeal.
The gameplay is simplistic, but engaging. The player can investigate each scene by controlling the on-screen pointer (depicted as a hand) with the Left Analog stick. When this pointer touches an object the player can read and/or pick up, it will turn into a magnifying glass. From there, the player can press the A button to interact with the object.
The game’s puzzles vary in difficulty. Some of the earlier challenges – like escaping from the cat bandit’s lair – is more about investigating Nairi’s surroundings than anything else. Some of the later puzzles involve piecing items together to create something. For example: after meeting a local duck citizen who feels rejected by his peers, Nairi is asked to make a ‘stylish’ helmet from the items she finds inside the ‘poor’ district of Shirin (a location that becomes a focal point of the game early on). After finding the necessary parts, the player can assemble the object in the provided inventory system.
The later puzzles are more difficult, and they involve pulling levers to open doors and pressing buttons in a certain sequence. The game doesn’t leave the player hanging on these puzzles either. Sometimes clues to certain puzzles can be found in the surrounding environment(s). These can include a series of symbols or a group of items that were missed early on. Moreover, clicking on objects such as pottery and tin cans will sometimes reveal gold coins. These coins can be used to purchase items from street vendors (when the story permits) for use in some of the game’s more challenging puzzles.
Essentially, Nairi: Tower of Shirin is a surprisingly good puzzle game that benefits from having a great cast of characters and a well-rounded story. The game never seems to disappoint, no matter where the player finds themselves in the story. And this alone is why Nairi: Tower of Shirin is worth owning on the Nintendo Switch. As a game, it’s unique enough to stand out on its own in a genre that is over-saturated with too many choices. Fans of the puzzle game and Visual Novel genres will not be disappointed by this delightful title; it has all the markings of a cult classic.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Home Bear Studio
Publisher: Another Indie Studio
ESRB: E (Everyone)
Price: $9.99
Nairi: Tower of Shiri Official Website: http://homebearstudio.com/
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| Eye-catching illustrations bring the game to life. | |
| Sound | |
| A great soundtrack sets the mood. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Fun puzzles that make the player think outside the box. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Nairi: Tower of Shirin is a surprisingly good puzzle game that benefits from having a great cast of characters and a well-rounded story. | |
