A Tale of Synapse: The Chaos Theories

The idea of creating a game world built around knowledge is a good one. But the developers at Souris-Lab should try to better define their mechanics if they expand on the world of Hemeide and to make clear what kind of players they target. Their puzzle design ability is solid, A Tale of Synapse is a good debut title, and it will be interesting to see what kind of experience they can create next.

A Tale of Synapse: The Chaos Theories is an education game that mixes learning with the action-platformer genre. Play as Nero on her quest to collect the four sacred books, learning math along the way. Is this mashup twice the fun? Find out in this Rapid Review.

A Tale of Synapse: The Chaos Theories is most certainly a unique puzzle platformer. If you are looking for a slow experience that is different from the usual formula then I most certainly recommend giving this a chance. You don’t need to be a Mathematics expert to enjoy the game but you do need to use your brain and think things through. I felt the combat segments felt a little forced and it would have fared better as a more Zen-like puzzle experience. Regardless this is the best video game featuring Mathematics since Math Rescue on PC.

There are a fair few issues with A Tale of Synapse: The Chaos Theories and it’s not perfect, but the ideas here are unique and well set up.

The ideal player for A Tale of Synapse: The Chaos Theories is one with a controller, a fervent love of niche concepts, and a godly amount of patience. I’d even go as far as to say being fluent in French would likely benefit the player as well, so they may enjoy the title in its original language in an effort to bypass the clunky English translation. The background art is surely beautiful, the puzzles themselves are decent, and the idea is certainly interesting, but, as the adage goes, it’s not about the idea but the execution of the idea. That $17.99 can be better spent elsewhere.

A Tale of Synapse: The Chaos Theories is a mixed bag overall. Visually it's extremely impressive, and when the player is able to focus on the game's puzzles it's an immersive head-scratcher. However, its struggles with platforming and combat, alongside its camera issues, means that the title ends up as a good idea not entirely successful in its implementation.

An utterly odd hodge podge of styles and concepts, Synapse kind of throws ideas out there in relative abundance but the result doesn't quite come together sadly...

A Tale of Synapse: The Chaos Theories is a simple puzzle-solving action-platformer adventure that will make us have a great time. As it has very simple puzzles, making it a good option to consider when playing it with children. A good option to take into account to spend some time entertaining.