Sometimes you come upon a gem of a game which you just cannot help but love. Dweep Gold is one such tiny treasure with polished gameplay, graphics and sound that add up to a relaxing experience.
Dweep is an adorable, furry, trusting creature who needs you to help him safely reach his kids. Since Dweep--as the instructions keep stressing--has no way to protect himself, you'll need to use your wits to help him get past all the obstacles unharmed.
For this purpose, you've got an arsenal of mirrors, hammers, fans and other items, which--once picked up by Dweep--can be used on any location on the level to clear a safe way for the hairy hero. The entire game is built around a number of objects which interact in specific ways. For example, a bomb has its fuse lit by a laser beam or a torch, can be put out by a bucket of water, and when it explodes, it destroys nearby objects and sets off other bombs. The rules are easily memorized and described in detail in both the instructions and the in-game hints, and are varied enough to allow for many unique levels. While individual maps don't offer a lot of replayability, there's enough of them to last you for a long time: in total, the game includes 75 official maps, plus just as many user-created ones (though most of the latter aren't very good.)
Similarly to other puzzle games like Sokoban or Chip's Challenge, Dweep Gold requires careful planning to complete its fiendish conundrums. There's typically only one way to finish a level, with zero room for error, and even a single mistake in the plan's execution usually forces the player to restart. Sometimes you get the impression that a level is completely unsolvable, but I assure you, it never is. On these occasions, it pays to reject a seemingly obvious solution and think of a more unusual one. Thankfully, you're not forced to finish every level; if one seems too hard, you can skip ahead and come back whenever you feel like it.
Dweep Gold is a fine game for anyone who likes to challenge their brain in their spare time. Probably my only criticism would be that there are only five tunes, so the music gets gratingly repetitive after a good while, but that's about it.
If the game refuses to work, try running dweep.exe in compatibility mode for Windows 98/Me.
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