Paper Trail

Charming yet challenging, Paper Trail is a beautifully designed game that will have you perplexed by its page-folding puzzles. A generous hint system ensures players won't get so stuck that they get frustrated, while collecting all the origami is a task that will likely turn even the most ardent puzzle fan's brain to pulp.

A beautiful paper-folding puzzler that screwed up the last remaining scraps of my self esteem and yeeted them into the bin.

Paper Trail is a charming game with an interesting and unique puzzle mechanic. The story doesn’t quite reach the emotional highs that we were expecting but it’s still a sweet coming-of-age tale set in a gorgeous world complemented by a beautifully atmospheric soundtrack.

Paper Trail is one of the finest puzzle games you can buy for the Switch right now. The storybook narrative, compelling visuals, and cleverly designed conundrums, all come together to make for a chill and enjoyable experience that you shouldn't miss, and you'd do well to keep an eye on what Newfangled Games does next. We'd give this one a high recommendation to anyone looking for a low-stakes yet sufficiently challenging new addition to their puzzle library.

When you think about it, that’s kind of the inherent pro and con to puzzles, though. Paper Trail benefits a lot from its distinct mechanics, because they help it stand out among a sea of similar games with similar gameplay hooks. But distinct doesn’t always mean approachable, and Paper Trail ends up being quite complex in a lot of ways that could be awesome for one player and super obstructive to another. And that’s fine! The style, which includes the colorful visuals, silly sound direction, genuine writing, and emotive music, all elevate the experience and aid in that sense of approachability. It’s a little too much for me, but I’m mostly a Tetris guy at the end of the day.

Paper Trail delivers the perfect blend of color and art style that's a standout among the puzzle game genre. The technical mechanics are innovative and creatively integrate new challenges as the story goes on, making the experience engaging and thoughtful. While this storybook looks visually stunning, the plot lacks a sense of depth and doesn’t add much to the games’ experience. Paper Trail puts a twist on the simple indie game and centers itself on display for everyone to see in all its splendor.

Paper Trail is a great puzzle with resolutions that really make us rack our brains to solve. It’s good value for money and tells a beautiful story of discoveries about the world and yourself.

It's hard to imagine anything else Paper Trail could offer. It's a tidy little cosy puzzle package with enough oomph to satisfy puzzle game veterans and newbies alike. The charming story and visuals make it stand out and the level of love and care for the title is evident in the gameplay feel, making this a game to recommend. It would also make a fantastic game to sit back and enjoy on a Steam Deck!

Paper Trail is an exceptionally innovative puzzler that is challenging and offers solid features even if the story falls paper flat. I started off prejudging the game’s difficulty, but by the end of the few hours of the campaign I was astonished by the multi-layered puzzles that were expertly crafted with challenge.

Paper Trail is, at its core, a wonderful adventure through page bending worlds. Paige is an adorable main character and the atmosphere that it creates through its design and music is stellar. The reason I’m not giving a platinum award is because the difficulty curve felt a little too steep. I would still recommend Paper Trail to any fans of puzzle or cozy games. That’s why it has been awarded the Thumb Culture Gold Award.