The Geddies

First you think it's some second-rate puzzle game, then you notice little figurines falling into it and there's some weird physics among the elements. The Geddies from 1995 is an obscure little piece that will take more secrets to the grave than the number of players who ever knew about it.

It's a logic game on MS-DOS where you control a small character in isometric view and manipulate various objects and mechanisms. The goal is straightforward — get from one level to the next, except the path isn't direct. You have to figure out how to combine elements, where to look from so the way forward opens up. It doesn't aspire to be action or overly deep strategic expertise — it's quiet, rather meditative problem-solving.

The game is controlled by mouse and keyboard, which was standard in the nineties, but that's where precision gets lost. Sometimes you don't know if you clicked the right element or if you need to view your character from a different angle. The levels aren't dramatic, more pleasantly slow — if it clicks with you, you'll spend time here without stress, if not, you'll stop playing in ten minutes. The character animations are charmingly clunky, the graphics held up in 1995, today it's a retro cube with eyes.

The Geddies is remembered today only as a curiosity, one of thousands of tiny games some garage developer created and released without fanfare. It has no breakthrough moment, no deed that would randomly bring you back to playing later. It's not bad, just some quiet morning without story and without glory.

Today you can play it in a browser through an emulator, if you decide to dig into DOS game archives. You won't miss it — but when you dive in, it'll at least give you a while of quiet entertainment without pretense.