Circuits

Circuits is a minimalist puzzle game about reconstructing short songs. Each of the 25 levels consists of a single screen where the song is laid out as a circuit of branching lines, with start and a finish. Generally a song is split up in three types of layers (yellow, red and pink) that represent a group of similar instruments or sounds such as a synthesizer, vocals, drums etc. Each layer is split up in different samples (musical circles). The player usually start the game by listening to the song in the playmode where it can be heard correctly in its entirety. By choosing one of the three layers in the top right corner, you can listen to an individual layer. Through a bar at the bottom of the screen you can quickly slide between certain sections. A white line shows the progress on the circuit and which samples have been activated.

Reconstructing the song is done is done in the edit mode. It shows the same circuit, but now the player can drag samples that are available at the bottom of the screen into the containers on the circuit. To complete a song all available samples have to be used and some can be used more than once. To help the player go through the process, sometimes with trial and error, some assistance is provided. Once the sample is placed in the circuit, you can click it to hear the sound. You can also listen to the progress so far and the process can be split up into the individual layers just like the playmode. Corrections are done by switching samples between containers until it is correct. Mistakes are not marked however, after a complete playback the game merely mentions there are errors. A turbo mode can be activated during playback to quickly move to a certain section. To complete a level the entire song has to be played with all three layers together.

Gradually new gameplay elements are introduced. The difficulty is increased by providing more samples that sound alike. Certain samples need to be looped from two to eight times and later on loopers are used to loop groups of samples. Later levels introduce switchers where one of multiple paths needs to be chosen. Sometimes help is provided when one or more samples are put in the right position at the start of a level. Levels also often provide two types of hints in limited quantities. The first type of hint highlights the misplaced samples and the second one puts a sample in its correct position. Optionally levels can be skipped, but then they are not registered as completed.