Cogwheel Quandary Gives the Amiga 1200 Thirty Machines and One Very Stressed Player

7 Towersoft Games releases Cogwheel Quandary, a mechanical gear-fitting puzzle title taking advantage of AGA graphics on Commodore Amiga 1200 and 4000 computers.

The Amiga AGA catalogue has acquired another genuinely new game rather than another excuse to replay something from 1993. Cogwheel Quandary, developed by 7 Towersoft Games, is a mechanical puzzle title built around thirty machines, three rotating rings and a shared tray of gears.

The player's task is to fit gears correctly according to their tooth counts while the machinery continues demanding attention. Incorrect placements grind the mechanism to a halt, while the game's persistent crank system adds pressure to what might otherwise have been a leisurely exercise in counting little metal teeth.

The title specifically targets AGA-class Amigas, placing it in the territory of the Amiga 1200 and 4000 rather than the more restrictive original OCS machines. That distinction is increasingly interesting in modern Amiga development: some creators deliberately target the enormous installed base represented by classic OCS/ECS specifications, while others embrace the expanded colour and graphical capabilities Commodore introduced late in the platform's commercial life. Cogwheel Quandary takes the latter route and uses those capabilities for visual clarity rather than simply throwing 256 colours at the screen because 1992 would have considered that impressive.

The Amiga homebrew scene's continuing willingness to create original puzzle concepts is also welcome. There are only so many arcade conversions one machine can receive before somebody needs to install gears.