Image via Aksys and liica
The liica Q games developed a reputation. They’re well known for their reliance on precise drawings that work within the rules of the games’ physics engines to accomplish certain goals. So much so that I hesitate to even refer to them as puzzle games, and rather would suggest they’re sandbox simulations in which our experiments yield the desired results if luck is on our side. Q Remastered, Q2 Humanity, and Q with Vtuber coming to the Switch with Q Collection is handy, in terms of exposure, but it also felt like a constant reminder that these games really are best enjoyed with the precision that comes from mouse-based controls.
Each entry in Q Collection on the Switch features a different sort of purpose, though all involve common thread of using physics responses to perform actions. In both Q Remastered and Q with Vtuber, this means drawing shapes or lines to cause reactions that complete objectives. Q2 Humanity can also involve that, but its focus lends some party-game elements due to picking “humans” with traits and going alone or into stages with up to three other people to accomplish goals. While each stage could be completed in minutes, or even seconds, if luck and accuracy is on your side, others may leave someone confounded for an extended period of time if things don’t go exactly right. As the title suggests with Q with Vtuber, the gimmick is those types of performers created the puzzles and contributed to the soundtrack.
Which, unfortunately, I feel can sometimes be a consequence of the Switch versions of Q Remastered, Q2 Humanity, and Q with Vtuber in Q Collection. All three games do support traditional controller schemes in addition to touchscreen drawing while in handheld mode, and it is possible to use gyroscopic controls in what I feel is a more silly option. While Q2 Humanity does involve also drawing items in the same way Q Remastered and Q with Vtuber does, it also involves using avatars to manipulate and interact with those creations to complete tasks. (It almost reminds me a bit of WarioWare: Get It Together.) The standard controller drawing elements can work and be used to solve situations. You can get by with trial and error, as the very nature of all these liica games means there are multiple solutions. However, hand-drawn items with the touchscreen often prove best.
Which, as Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has shown, means the original Switch doesn’t always offer optimal results when using a finger on a screen. After the game launched, we saw people using cotton swabs and aluminum foil for makeshift utensils for greater drawing precision. I felt like all three of the Q Collection games on the Switch eventually encouraged similar behaviors in myself as I got to more challenging stages. I mean, there are certain techniques that you develop as you play involving things like certain lines for momentum and specific ball drops to fill spaces. But while the controller or my finger could work, I found it wasn’t always optimal.
The nature of Q Collection also works in its favor for clarity, at least. Stages in each collection are very stark. Figures are set against a black background, and colors are used to differentiate important or meaningful ones. Both Q Remastered and Q with Vtuber always feature the level objective at the top as a constant reminder and clarifier. Actually ascertaining the correct approach isn’t always immediately clear, even if something may seem obvious. They’re budget games, and that comes through, but it works in their favor. In fact, I think I preferred that to the more stylized approach taken for Q2 Humanity.
I will note that the unlocking element in Q Collection can prove frustrating, though I found it only an issue in Q Remastered. It features over 1,300 puzzles, but many of them are gated behind progression. If you aren’t figuring out the early puzzles in certain areas, you don’t get access to more until you do. Given that, in some cases, it can feel like luck or precision can be what determines if a strategy does or doesn’t work, it can take away from the fun of it all. Given Q with Vtubers is far shorter (at only about 60 puzzles) and Q2 Humanity handles progression differently, both of those don’t feel as restrictive.
Q Collection is a fascinating set of scenarios and sandbox stages, though the Switch control limitations sometimes make it feel like it isn’t the ideal environment for the games. Q Remastered is great for seeing what the most basic version of the experiences should feel like. Q2 Humanity is the experimental one that almost feels a bit more forgiving due to the multiplayer element. Q with Vtubers can feel a bit weird, in a good way, due to the influence from outsiders who played the game. If you enjoy physics-based challenges that sometimes might annoy the heck out of you or make you feel like an immediate genius, it could be worth a try, but make sure you come in with a stylus at the start.
Q Collection is available for the Switch. All three games in the collection also appear individually on PCs via Steam.