This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format.

Samsara is a puzzler with a unique premise that weaves the narrative and characters into its rudimentary gameplay effectively, presenting a charming indie experience. You take control of Zee, a young protagonist thrust into an ‘upside down’ land that mirrors the world above. You in turn guide Zee by placing platforms for them to walk over in order to reach escape portals.

The premise is surely more than a bit influenced by a certain popular Netflix show, yet that isn’t the strangest thing on display here. Later levels can become fiendishly difficult, encouraging an enjoyable amount of out-of-the-box thinking and clever problem-solving.

Behind its cute and cuddly exterior, Samsara offers some really great puzzling, that often leads to satisfying moments of personal validation once solved. Though the premise of stacking stairs and crates to use as platforms may seem super basic, the game manages to keep it interesting, with an appropriate difficulty curve and clever use of the mirror image function. Some moments will have you wanting to throw your Switch to the ground in frustration (please, don’t do that), but the joy of solving one of the later, fiendishly hard puzzles is incredibly rewarding.

Though initially somewhat underwhelming, the visual style of Samsara becomes more appealing over time. The choppy, almost lazy initial cutscenes are not reflective of the level design, which becomes hauntingly beautiful when combined with the dark, mirror image below. Zee also becomes an endearing protagonist, as you become more and more aligned with them and want to see them escape.

Samsara is, unfortunately, let down by a shockingly empty soundtrack that makes much of the game lack a distinct aural style, which is a big hit against its overall aesthetic. However, this is still a great puzzler. Its delightful visual style and simple yet tough puzzling make it appropriately addictive and something quite special.