Criterion: A Puzzle About Elegant Solutions
Criterion is a space optimisation puzzle that asks a deceptively simple question: given limited tiles and moving color fluxes, how elegantly can you solve a system? Each level presents a grid of sources and sinks, and your job is to connect matching colors while managing flux strength and spatial constraints. The twist is not that solutions are impossible - the dev promises "I swear there is a solution" - but that your score depends on how efficiently you build it.
Small Grid, Big Decisions
As new colors unlock the networks grow denser and interactions deepen. Fluxes can be combined, routed, and split, but every block in the finite grid is precious. That means routing is never simply about connectivity. You must think about where to place pipes or processors so flows do not interfere, and so you avoid blocking future moves. Every extra turn or redundant tile can hurt your final evaluation.
