Devilishly difficult puzzle game Filament is comfy fun

Filament is a deceptively difficult puzzle game from developers Bear Envy and Kasedo Games that has just released today. They've taken a single, fun puzzle mechanic and taken it as far as it can go. In addition to puzzle-solving, you'll also explore The Alabaster, one of The Filament Corporation’s flagship research vessels, to discover what happened to the missing crew.

The basis of the puzzles in Filament involves carrying around a sort of fibre-optic cable to bring light to all the required pillars in a room. Once the cable is laid, it becomes an impassable barrier so you need to plan your route carefully. Essentially it's a kind of string-winding puzzle. The developers build on this mechanic throughout the game's puzzles by introducing variations like coloured light or dark pillars that stop the flow of light.

It's quite easy to get into but the difficulty ramps up quickly. You'll definitely be scratching your head trying to solve even some of the earlier puzzles. A few times I thought for sure they were impossible before finally finding a solution. Always the mark of good puzzle game, in my opinion.

Outside of puzzle-solving, you're exploring the spaceship The Alabaster. You've boarded it after finding it adrift in space with no crew. There are little tidbits of lore scattered throughout the ship that give some insight into what happened. The mix of overworld exploration and puzzles is very reminiscent of The Witness.

Filament is currently available on Steam.