It’s about time to focus more on these weekly reviews because I am now going back to school to be a librarian. I really like the library environment and I am pretty sure that I want to pursue a career if becoming internet-famous is not an option. Anyway, this week I really wanted to play a puzzle game and I conveniently already had one in my Steam library. A game that reminds me a lot of Carto but with an origami take. This week is Paper Trail.

Paper Trail is a puzzle game from Newfangled Games. The game was released in May 2024 for all modern consoles and PC. The game retails for $20.

In Paper Trail you play Paige, a girl who wants to leave home in search of new experiences, primarily university. Paige and her parents live in a remote small village near the ocean and hold dear the ideology of family They beg their daughter to reconsider and stay in the village with her family. Paige is reluctant and sets out in the middle of the night on her adventure that involves strange new lands like a swamp where people drink frog tea, a cave-like system that looks out onto the ocean, and even a Victorian-era city that may or may not lead to University.

Paige loves her family and wants what is best for them but she also understands that she needs to experience life her own way just as they did. There is not a lot to unpack in the story but it is still fun and engaging while there are some characters that are introduced and leave so quickly that it does make it hard to really connect with them.

Paper Trail tells the story of a girl who wants to experience life on her own terms, with some twists and turns, a lot of puzzling, and cutscenes that really energize this story of adventure.

Paper Trail takes on the puzzle in one of the most interesting ways by introducing origami as the main influence. Each level is introduced as essential sheets of 8×5 pieces of paper that have both a front side and backside. The player can view the opposite side at any time by holding a button. As you evaluate the puzzle, small highlights show up on the edges that indicate to the player of how they could potentially fold the page over to connect paths and later on in the game, connect lights, doors, and statues. The one main mechanic that persists throughout the game is the numbered bridges that require you to connect a like number to be able to cross the bridge that it creates.

Pages can only be stretched so far as Paige and another object cannot be overlapped, which creates a nice depth to the puzzling. There are quite a number of areas in the game and each of them introduces a new mechanic that follows through until an extremely large puzzle at the end of the section and sometimes will even become a sub-mechanic in later levels. Moving statues is one of those mechanics that continues past its introduced section. All of the mechanics are fun and not difficult to master, but when added together really make you stop and think.

Paige only ever really moves with the click of the mouse, no WASD here. The simple movement really makes it easier to focus on the puzzles. The cutscenes are also mini puzzles themselves as Paige narrates her journey and past events the player is tasked with forming visual representations of her story. It’s fun, thoughtful, and endearing to see what exactly Paige is talking about.

Paper Trail gives the player a good amount of time to understand the mechanics of the level and then throws a thinker right at them. By the end of a section, you would have pulled back every page at least five to ten times before getting it right.

There are optional trinkets to collect that do not impact the game in any manner but are real tests in puzzle solving. There are plenty to collect, at least five per section. There were times when I sat for minutes looking for a way to get to an origami collectible and I eventually gave up because the answer wasn’t truly clear. I’ll probably go back and see if I can get them.

Paper Trail looks as though you are playing with and folding paper. The flat, top-down perspective and the watercolor art style really make for a unique-looking game. Early on I was put off by the character models but as I played the game I fell in love with the way that the characters are designed. I am convinced that Paige’s parents are Bob and Linda from Bob’s Burgers.

Paper Trail is a warm, beautiful-looking video game.

Music from Claudie Mackula fits the puzzling vibe. Nice, soft piano melodies are more often accompanied by vocals to give a compelling soundtrack. The narration during the cutscenes is good enough for me.

Paper Trail is a superb puzzler. The onboarding is super nice as it gives veteran players a nice refresher and gives new players a good explanation of how the game functions. The game presents new areas with new mechanics that keep the game new and fresh and the puzzles are not difficult enough to get totally frustrated to the point of quitting. The game is absolutely beautiful and the soundtrack is so good. It is safe to say that Paper Trail is one of my favorite puzzle games to release this year.

9/10