Conquistadorio is a puzzle game about a retired conqueror who became a hermit.  And I suppose he’s become about as reclusive as one can get, as the demo opens with his coffin being unearthed by some rather large bugs!  Yikes!  I was drawn to this game mainly due to the interesting art style, which is quite eerie and detailed.

Considering the demo only takes about 10-15 minutes to complete, I can’t really speak for the quality of the puzzles based on my experience alone, although I did end up watching a full playthrough online (more on that later).  During the demo, all you really do is collect a few items in order to make a weapon in the first screen, then drag over a few bugs to make steps in the second.  The gameplay felt very similar to another puzzle game called Boxville, with its point and click-style gameplay and wordless story.  Boxville, however, offered a greater variety of puzzles during its brief demo, while I’d say that Conquistadorio has the superior scenery (and scenery is, frankly, less important).

While the puzzles in both demos were rather confusing to me, one thing I liked about Conquistadorio was the ability to get hints.  You can get a smaller hint pointing out something you ought to click on, while you can also get a Super Hint, which required me to play a little side scrolling mini game where I avoided obstacles before I was granted a full sheet of drawings showing me what to do.  I rather liked this feature, as it allows you to figure out how to proceed in the event that you become hopelessly stuck without outright just giving you the solution without any effort.

Okay, so like I said, I ended up watching a full playthrough of this game, and I usually had no idea how the player ever knew what to do, as the puzzles looked very confusing and unintuitive.  I initially wondered if this was only because I wasn’t actually playing the game myself, and perhaps it would make more sense if I was actually in control.  But when I looked at reviews online, many people said the puzzles made no sense and often required a guide or just a lot of trial and error to solve.  The other thing I found very disappointing about this game was the fact that it ends on a cliffhanger, making the whole game feel rather pointless.

Playthroughs on Youtube tended to last roughly an hour, so the game really doesn’t seem worth the price, whether it’s for $4.99 on mobile, $9.99 on Steam, or a whopping $19.99 on modern consoles!  If they wanted to end the game on a cliffhanger, they should have gone the route of Jenny LeClue: Detectivu, a murder mystery which was at least a 10-hour game and answered a few questions (namely, solving the murder) before the game abruptly ended with even more mysteries left unsolved.  In case you’re interested, Jenny LeClue is $20-25 on modern consoles and PC, but it will feel even more worth your time if you wait for one of the frequent sales and buy it for a mere $1.99.