Blue Wizard Digital’s ‘Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle’ Game Review

From the people who brought you Slayaway Camp and Plants vs Zombies comes a brand new puzzle game for iOS, Android and Steam. This past Friday, April 13th, Blue Wizard Digital released Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle, a strategy horror game where you get to be Jason Voorhees himself as he hunts down camp counselors and space aliens, all at the urging of his mother’s severed head. Sound like something you might be interested in? Read on to find out if that game is worth your time!

Friday the 13th series creator Sean S. Cunningham says:

I loved the balance of horror and humor the Blue Wizard guys brought to Slayaway Camp, and I’m thrilled to see their take on Friday the 13th.”

And Blue Wizard Digital describes their game thusly:

Players control Jason by sliding him around an isometric puzzle level to attack his victims, either directly with a variety of weapons, or indirectly, by frightening them into environmental hazards like campfires, bear traps, and wood chippers. Gruesome reflex-based “kill scenes” punctuate the puzzling as you progress through multiple episodes.

I was first interested in trying Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle after having such a great time playing Blue Wizard’s first slasher video game, Slayaway Camp. While I will admit that these two games are similar (if anyone has any complaints about Killer Puzzle, it will be that it’s very close in style, look and play as Slayaway Camp), for me, the differences were enough to make this an even more enjoyable game to play.

Some of my favorite upgrades include:

• The look of Jason… He’s HUGE! His mask is perfect, and he even has a few strands of stringy hair hanging from his head. As the game progresses, Jason and his outfits upgrade, leaving all of the previous avatars at your disposal to switch out whenever you feel like it. If you want Medieval Jason to take out bikini clad lifeguards on the beach in Last Resort or Uber Jason to hack his way through the apocalypse in Wasteland, then go for it!
• The weapons… Instead of getting new monster avatars after so many levels like in Slayaway Camp, now you get cooler weapons for Jason to use to slash and dash his victims. Every time you kill the Final Girl/Boy/Jock/Hipster, your hockey mask meter fills a bit more with bloodlust, and once it’s full, you get a crate that you hammer open to find a brand spanking new killing tool. I’m only four segments into the game, and already I have a bunch of stuff, including a chainsaw, a machete, a javelin, a baseball bat, a skeleton arm, a metal stool and even a toilet brush. Who doesn’t want to kill teens with a toilet brush?

  

• The animations and artwork… This new game sports characters that are much more animated, even during puzzle play. I especially love how Jason throws his arms up in the air, ever joyful over the killing of hapless teenagers. The artwork itself is much more detailed in this game. The characters have a colorful, artistic personality to go along with their huge, terrified eyeballs.
• Mrs. Voorhees’ head… From the moment you start the game, the severed head of Mama Voorhees hangs out with you in the upper left hand corner of the screen. She gives you hints and offers up encouraging words for her undead son. At least you didn’t have to wear her sweater.
• Game hints… Rather than having to wait until you collect a certain amount of coins to get game hints or walkthroughs, in Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle, you just need to watch a video ad to get a little help. As someone who had the tendency to get very frustrated with some of the levels in Slayaway Camp, this aspect is the best part of the new game.
• Between scene animations… the cutscenes between segments are fantastic and much more detailed. They actually tell a story, making them rather enjoyable instead of just something to do while waiting for the new segment to start. My favorite, so far, is Jason’s prison perp walk, which reminded me of Kane Hodder’s character, Seig’s, walk of shame in Death House.

• Extra minigames… there are two minigames that you can play to earn more bloodlust towards new weapons – the Daily Death, an extra puzzle that changes every day (complete these puzzles 13 days in a row and get a new, rare weapon), and Murder Marathon, which shows kill scene after glorious kill scene where you can slaughter to your heart’s content, all in the name of bloodlust.
• The Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma Button… if you go into the game settings, there’s a Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma button where you can play that infamous chant any time the mood strikes.

Derek Mears, the man behind the mask for the 2009 reboot of the Friday the 13th series, was an official consultant for Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle (he also helped with – and even starred in – Slayaway Camp, natch). I was a little bummed that the VHS movie boxes with the the segment titles were missing from this game, but alas. It’s a minor quibble. I do love that the rewind button is still available, so if you make a wrong move, you can go back a step at a time until you’re where you need to be, rather than starting the entire game over.

 

You can check out the Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle game’s website and visit your app store or Steam account to find out where to download this “free to slay” game. There are in app purchases, which is awesome since we currently have a contest on the top of our Facebook page where you can win codes for free Jason avatar upgrades! So download the game, enter the contest and start slaying!