Curse of the Arrow is a fun puzzle platformer that reminds me of some of the best of Flash puzzle platformers of the late 2000s to early 2010s.  It expands on the mechanic of a movable but singular platform in interesting ways, and the development of other ways to use the arrow and new baddies that spawn from the corrupted areas as you progress are interesting.

However, I found several - in comparison small - UI/UX issues that frustrated me into needing to take a break from the game.  The level selection screen is fun at first, but it is all too easy to enter a level you didn't mean to enter - taking time to return to said level selection screen and try again.  Aside from the challenge of collecting coins on these screens, I do not understand why the level entries are buttons that can be pressed accidentally rather than the same pipes used for entering levels everywhere else in the game.

The pause menu also has a few minor annoyances to it - it remembers the cursor's position, and resetting the level is the third entry down rather than the second (which takes you to the aforementioned level select stage).  This combined makes retrying levels frustrating if a challenge has been irreparably failed (which happens frequently if you are trying to collect all of the coins), as the muscle memory from other similar puzzle platformers - pause the game, arrow down, hit A, the level resets - is so ingrained that the break from this standard often causes me to press the wrong option (most commonly causing me to leave the level).  Finally, there is the mercy mechanic - a popup that asks if you'd like to skip a level you have failed multiple times.  I am all for a mechanic like this existing in games, as they tend to make more of a game accessible to more players, especially if one level happens to be uncharacteristically hard for where it appears in the game.  However, when you are, for example, attempting the more difficult challenge of reaching every collectible that is available, then these popups quickly become frustrating to read in and of themselves.  I wish (as I often do for other games that have this mechanic) that these popups could be made optional.

In all, these interface grievances are small and petty in comparison to the actual gameplay of the game, which is very solid.  I would recommend that anyone who's a fan of puzzle platformers ought to give this game a try.