Proverbs | PC Review

If you’re a frequent reader of reviews here at The Gaming Outsider, I’m sure you’ve noticed a sort of comfortable routine in the format of the reviews. My apologies, you’re going to be out of your comfort zone for my review of Proverbs. 

Let’s get a couple of items out of the way. Proverbs is a pixel art video game that combines elements of mostly Minesweeper with a neat mix of Picross. Without question, I enjoyed every minute of the 30+ hours it took to complete the game. 

Never Believe Someone Who Carries Fire in One Hand and Water in the Other

The puzzle is actually a 16th century painting called “Netherlandish Proverbs.” The painting, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, contains multiple scenes from a town. Each scene tells a proverb like the one in the header of this section. That proverb, in particular, has a modern meaning of “Beware of someone who is two-faced or a pot stirrer.” 126 proverbs equate to 126 lessons that every human should know.

The painting in the game Proverbs has been pixelated so that it fits the style of gaming that we’re playing. There are over 55,000 pixels that make up the entire painting. While the painting has 126 different proverbs, Proverbs separates the puzzle into 259 different regions. You can do the math, there is approximately one proverb per every two completed regions. As you complete a region that contains a proverb, you unlock a Steam achievement. In a couple of rare cases, the region contains two proverbs. 

It is Easy to Sail Before the Wind

Each pixel is either true or false. A number on the puzzle refers to the nine (3 x 3) pixels around it. If the number is a 9, then all 9 boxes are true (left click on the mouse for each pixel). If the number is a 0, then none of the boxes are true (right click on the mouse for each pixel). If the number is 3, then 3 are true and 6 are false. My initial few hours were learning how I should play the game by filling in the most obvious sections and some nifty tricks that I started learning along the way. The last ten hours, I was flying through each region.

The header proverb’s modern definition – “If conditions are favorable, it is not difficult to achieve one’s goal.”

The Pig is Stabbed Through the Belly

This section’s header is a proverb that translates to “What is done cannot be undone.” While this might be true in life, we’re playing a game. Mistakes are correctable in Proverbs. I found that if I made 4 pixel mistakes, a box would light up giving me an option to clear my mistakes. This was quite useful and appreciated. This game played beautifully on my laptop. However, trying to use the touchpad instead of a mouse proved tricky. I made several mistakes and accidentally tapped on pixels that I wasn’t trying to solve, sometimes without even realizing it. That button was perfect to set me back on the right course.

Horse Droppings Are Not Figs

Am I mostly using this header because it made me laugh? Yes.

But, the modern definition “Do not be fooled by appearances” still slightly fits. Yes, in theory, this is a simple game with a slightly complicated solution. If you’re like me, you will get hooked by wanting to complete each region to see which achievement/proverb you have solved. The ever present scoreboard tells you your percentage progress of the region as well as the painting as a whole. Imagine my glee as I surpassed 50%. Consider my drive to complete a region where I only had 50 pixels remaining in it. The joy and satisfaction of Steam telling me that I collected another achievement.

To Always Gnaw on a Single Bone

Okay, I must include one piece of criticism. Don’t get me wrong, the music is quite nice. It fits in with the motif of the 1500s with the flute, harpsichord, and lute sounding instruments. However, I played this game for over 30 hours over the span of a week. The music cycles about every 45 minutes or so. It was like listening to the same album 30 times. Or, similar to the proverb’s meaning, “To continually talk about the same subject.”

Strangely enough, I was still humming those melodies for several days after I finished the game. The music is great, just a little repetitive. 

Final Verdict – aka “To Fish Behind the Net”

To Fish Behind the Net means “To miss an opportunity.”

Don’t fish behind this net. Proverbs is a great puzzle that will provide hours of challenge and fun. In my entire life, I’ve never felt so compelled to finish a game. I have brought my Switch with me to work to play during lunch breaks, but never actually said, “I must play this game during my lunch” until I played Proverbs. I was sharing my progress with my wife multiple times per day either through text messages, dinner conversations, or when I had to give my fingers a break. I even played while the Red Wings were on the TV. 

If that paragraph doesn’t explain how much I loved this game, I don’t know what else to say. You might not get as enraptured as I did in the lore of the painting or desperate to finish the next region before your brain shuts off. However, if you like puzzles, I cannot recommend Proverbs highly enough. Hours of joy including 260 feelings of accomplishment (259 regions plus the entire painting when I was done).

Proverbs offers a unique blend of historical art and modern puzzle-solving that kept me hooked for over 30 hours. Its challenging gameplay, educational value, and satisfying achievements make it a must-play for puzzle enthusiasts.

Before I leave you, I must take a moment to thank the game developer Divide the Plunder.

To hear me talk more about Proverbs, be sure to listen to our December 12th episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:23:33 time stamp.

This review is based on a PC copy of Proverbs provided by Game.Press for coverage purposes. As of the time of this writing, it is exclusive to this platform.