Understand is an experimental puzzle game by Artless Games. Each level contains a group of sublevels that present you with a grid containing some shapes. Your job is to draw a line that fulfils all the rules represented by the dots below the grid. The twist is that you are not told what the rules are. You have to use trial and error to figure them out. The levels are organized into chapters that revolve around a common theme, though they end with an X-? Gimmick Level.
Compare Mao, another game about guessing rules. See also The Witness, whose puzzles also involve figuring out rules.
This game provides examples of:
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The chapters are colour-coded, with chapter 1 being lime green, chapter 2 being dark green, chapter 3 being light orange, and so on. This comes into play in the Final Exam Finale of chapter 0, where the levels include rules from multiple chapters, and the rule dots have the color of the chapter the rule came from.
- Final Exam Finale: Chapter 0 features elements from the previous chapters. Specifically, the levels include rules from previous chapters, with the rule dots having the color of the chapter the rule came from.
- Gimmick Level: The ? levels in each chapter have a gimmick.
- 1-?: It appears to be a standard level about hitting or not hitting certain levels, but some levels appear to be impossible. You are allowed to draw lines outside of the grid. This lets you avoid hitting more than one star in 1-?-3. It also allows you to get a star in 1-?-4 — you have to touch the "end of this level" star that's otherwise used for navigation only!
- 2-?: Its rules seem to be straight-forward, but at one point you'll probably hit a grid without a circle and get stuck. The starting circle is located where your line in the previous sub-level ended. You have to find a "chain" that makes 2-?-5's circle appear — if you end 2-?-4 in the top square, the equivalent spot on 2-?-5 won't get a circle because it's already occupied by a square.
- 3-?'s gimmick becomes clear early. Drawing a line pushes the shapes away. Exploiting this is necessary for dividing the shapes into groups of two similar ones, as a rule requires. The second-to-last sub-level uses this in a tricky way: you have to start outside the circle, and push it onto the starting square.
- 8-? has a Shout-Out theme, with all the sub-levels except for 8-?-1 referencing other puzzle games. The rule is that you have to highlight the name of the game being referenced.
- Metapuzzle:
- 1-?: You are allowed to draw lines outside of the grid. This lets you avoid hitting more than one star in 1-?-3. It also allows you to get a star in 1-?-4 ? you have to touch the "end of this level" star that's otherwise used for navigation only.
- 2-?: Its rules seem to be straight-forward, but at one point you'll probably hit a grid without a circle and get stuck. The starting circle is located where your line in the previous sub-level ended. You have to find a "chain" that makes 2-?-5's circle appear ? if you end 2-?-4 in the top square, the equivalent spot on 2-?-5 won't get a circle because it's already occupied by a square.
- 4-?: The level's gimmick is that the area covered by the line in each sub-level must be the same.
- 5-?: Each number corresponds to a board. You have to enter and exit the number on the same side as you started and ended the corresponding board.
- 6-?: The entire level set is horizontally "mirrored" around 6-?-4. When you draw a line in 6-?-1, you're actually drawing a line on a horizontally mirrored version of 6-?-7.
- 7-?: After passing over a triangle, every subsequent move will make the whole puzzle slide 1 tile in the direction of the triangle. The last puzzle requires you to switch to windowed mode and adjust the window size to make it possible!
- 9-?'s sublevels eventually hide the symbols completely, forcing you to draw lines and use audio cues to figure out where they are.
- 0-?: You have to reproduce the shape of the levels on the level select screen that match thechapter number of the rule.
- _-?: You have to find a path that works for every sub-level. However, note that you can use the same path in very different configurations, as you can adjust the length of the segments.
- Minimalism: The game has simple graphics that highlight the puzzle aspect.
- No Plot? No Problem!: The game has no plot. Just draw lines that fulfil all the rules.
- Only One Save File: The game used to have only one save file. A later patch increased the number to three, however.
- Red Herring: The first sub-levels of 1-10 make it easy to assume the rules are identical to some that you've seen in previous levels. However, your approach will probably fail on 1-10-5 and 1-10-6. Unlike in every previous level, the shapes are completely irrelevant. You just have to draw a line that starts in the upper left corner and ends in the upper right corner. The sublevels until 1-10-4 all have a circle in the upper left corner and a square in the upper right corner, and 1-10-3 and 1-10-4 both make it very easy to "collect" all shapes while drawing a valid line, so it's easy to believe the shapes matter in 1-10 too.
- Shout-Out: The theme of level 8-? is references to other puzzle games. The rule is that you have to highlight the name of the game being referenced.
- 8-?-2 is a straight-forward reference that spells out the title of The Witness and displays some symbols from it.
- 8-?-3 references Baba is You, and even uses the Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue... poem from the "Poem" level.
- 8-?-4 shows you a sentence along with the main character from Fez.
- 8-?-5 shows you the Portal logo, a companion cube and another portal. The portals are functioning, and necessary for spelling out "PORTAL".
- Trial-and-Error Gameplay: The goal of a sublevel is to draw a line that satisfies the level's set of rules. However, you are not told what these rules are, so you have to deduce them by trying various lines and seeing which rules are satisfied under which conditions.
