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TR-49 Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
In our TR-49 review, discover the addicting puzzles and narrative drama of inkle Studios' newest indie game.
Hopefully, this issue can be fixed. Otherwise, TR-49 is a great dose of fun for narrative deduction fanatics like myself. At its height, TR-49 succeeds at making every player feel like its mystery is their very own to solve. It takes talent to distort reality like that.
A World War II computer. An archive of lost books. A world-changing secret. TR-49 is a narrative deduction meets audio drama.
TR-49 is an intricately complex puzzle game, for better and for worse. On the one hand, the overabundance of dialogue that relies on exposition, plus obtuse puzzles that emphasize trial and error rather than the deductive reasoning said to be the game's core, is often really frustrating. On the other hand, the satisfaction you feel when you solve a puzzle all on your own, the multiple endings, and the affordable price make it a game that I'm excited to play again at some point down the line, ...
I believe that feeling sort of exemplifies my time with TR-49: it’s so exciting to discover a new text, or figure out a code that connects multiple pieces together. From the crackling sound of the round screen as it shifts to show your newly uncovered secret to the feeling of switching on the radio, knowing you’re closer to the truth than before, the experience is incredibly tactile, both physically and mentally, and I found so much to enjoy in the whirring of this machine.
I had my hopes up that Inkle would release a fix or patch before the embargo was up, but this seems unlikely to happen. At this time I find it hard to recommend TR-49, which pains me because I did get really into it. If you’ve loved Inkle’s previous narrative adventures like 80 Days, Overboard! or Heaven’s Vault, TR-49 is another wonderful mystery tale from the studio. But please make sure that Inkle has updated the game on Switch before you jump in. In its current state I cannot give TR-49 a proper review and if I did it would not receive a passing mark. It’s been quite some time sinc…
TR-49 is a code-breaking mystery that’s out now on the iPhone and Steam, developed by the studio behind 80 Days and Heaven’s Vault.