In Sink Review — Language Free Co-op

I’ve never been great at puzzle games.

Personally, I choose to believe this isn’t due to a lack of intelligence (boy, I really hope it isn’t) but rather a side effect of my ADD, making it hard to focus when I’m not completely invested. Because of this, I often find puzzle segments in games that otherwise don’t feature them tedious. However, I’m not completely against a mind-boggling challenge, and so the occasional puzzle game specifically and cleverly designed to stump me can still be enjoyable, as long as the difficulty isn’t aggressively oppressive.

Essentially, I enjoy a good escape room, which is more or less what In Sink is.

In Sink is a multiplayer puzzle room game that tasks you and a friend with solving your way out of a handful of themed and progressively challenging levels. While each challenge becomes progressively harder, the game never feels cheap or unsolvable and makes surprising use of language-less puzzles to create an experience pretty much anyone can engage with.

The first thing you might notice is that In Sink cannot be played solo. It’s not just a matter of the game being harder without a partner; the puzzles physically cannot be solved without the assistance of a friend.

These sorts of duo puzzle games have become more popular recently, and I feel In Sink is all the stronger for it. Each puzzle is cleverly and purposefully designed to challenge your ability to work as a team, often completely blocking view or even access to other rooms or elements of the puzzle and requiring verbal communication.

On that note, I don’t think you can play this game without microphone access, and I imagine it could be difficult to play with a stranger. Either bring your best friend or have a really interesting experience getting to know someone new.

I will say that I often didn’t enjoy being physically confined to a space, utterly dependent on my partner to solve a puzzle on their end to proceed. This frequently triggered a feeling of claustrophobia, especially considering how often these spaces were pretty tiny. I never thought that was a feeling I’d get in a video game, but here we are.

The puzzles in In Sink uniquely utilize a lack of language. There’s no need to understand complex English grammar to move forward; everything uses universally understood colors and shapes. This makes the game accessible to anyone, regardless of their native language or age, meaning two friends across the ocean or two siblings with a significant age gap could enjoy it equally.

As an older sibling, this is an idea I especially enjoy. Where was this game when my siblings were still young?

That being said, you’ll quickly notice the game’s heavy reliance on matching colors and shapes. While not exactly a criticism, it can get a little repetitive, even if the game manages to stay somewhat fresh throughout.

I particularly enjoyed that, despite the occasional challenge, I never felt completely overwhelmed. A solution always came to me or the person I was playing with. This honestly may be due in part to having someone there to help me through these puzzles, but I still felt the game was cleverly designed to provide a decent challenge without feeling too oppressive or hopeless just for the sake of it.

When struggling, you’ll find that hints are on a timer rather than readily available. Some may see this as the game forces you to think and engage with the problem before giving up or asking for advice. To that, I say… yeah, sure, kind of, but I found it a little frustrating at times when stuck on a puzzle and needing a hint, only to be told I had three to six minutes to wait. This was made worse on puzzles where the solution was literally hidden from view and not a mind game—the first time I needed a hint was in an early level where the answer was hidden in the doorframe leading into the level itself.

You’ll also notice the game uses a lot of math. For some people, this isn’t even worth mentioning. There should be a big warning label on the front of the box for big dummies like me. Remember when PC games were sold in boxes? Anyway.

Finally, I appreciated In Sink’s use of multiple sets or levels to make each challenge feel unique. While the level design rarely impacted the puzzles themselves beyond a thematic connection, it was still nice to travel between the different sets. Set pieces varying from pirate ships to noir murder investigations create good variety.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! In Sink is available on Steam.