6/21/2023 0 Comments Game gorogoa endingsI don’t get a rush of hot excitement from point-and-click games because I remember them far more for their moon logic than honest, god-fearing puzzles. I installed it right away, tried it for half an hour then abandoned the game to the desktop weeds. I’m here to tell you that Gorogoa is fabulous – because of moon logic.īack in 2018, I received a free Steam key for point-and-click adventure Lucid Dream (Dali Games, 2018). Now in the latest episode of “games I bought and God maybe it’s time I played it, right?”, I lobbed Gorogoa (Jason Roberts, 2017) onto my smartphone and played it last week. Moon logic can sometimes make sense in hindsight, but often leads players into the bowels of despair. Or you swipe a motorcycle by fabricating a moustache from cat hair to pretend to be someone who doesn’t have a moustache. So instead of using a key to open a locked door, maybe you transform it into a pancake and eat it. Playing Gorogoa is like flipping through an illustrated puzzle box, each layer removed revealing something new and wonderful beneath.Moon logic is a notorious game design choice where the solution to a puzzle emerges from incomprehensible game-world logic. Mechanically, it may rest firmly in the adventure game genre, but playing Gorogoa couldn't be further from that genre's typical design. Gorogoa is probably unlike any game you've ever played. However, its ending may seem abrupt, even if the length feels appropriate. This is the kind of game where length is matter of meticulous craft and construction, rather than a lack of content. That brevity - around two hours - isn't a flaw though, but a sign of polish. Getting stuck on a section can mean tapping and sifting through multiple tiles and layers to find the means of moving forward. While there's an option to highlight interactive items, there are no hints or similar help here. It's a game about those times where you realise what the game wants you to do and pause for a moment to appreciate how ingenious and varied such a simple mechanic can be.Īt its worst, Gorogoa is a game about finding the exact sequence and positioning of panels needed to progress. In adventure game fashion, progress hinges on combining and manipulating items to continue the boy's journey, but in Gorogoa, those items are context and perspective.Įarly in the game, layering the image of rooftop doorway over the boy standing in a closet lets him step between settings and onto the rooftop.īy layering panels over other panels, seemingly disparate elements can suddenly interact and blend together in wonderfully clever ways.Īt its best, Gorogoa is a game of making the impossible happen through changing the context of different panels into a combined whole. However, a puzzle game's foundation is its puzzles, and Gorogoa doesn't disappoint in that department. This constant manipulation of perspective and context imbues Gorogoa with a sense of playful discovery.Įven if the puzzles weren't clever, and they are, simply seeing how these detailed illustrations shift and change through your actions, discovering the other worlds behind the mundane, never ceases to be satisfying. The hands of a clock may become a compass resting on a table, or a painting on a wall might become a garden statue. Drag on the border of an illustration, and often you'll drag away a layer atop a new world, changing the panel's context entirely. Gorogoa divides your screen into four panels, each of which can contain an illustration. That simple seed of a story blossoms with folklore whimsy and logic, taking the player and the boy through doorways and windows into other worlds.Īt a glance, Gorogoa may seem similar to the panel shifting gameplay of Framed, and while that is certainly the closest comparison, Gorogoa's mechanics are much more complex. Playing Gorogoa feels like playing through a fairytale, an adventure that begins with a young boy seeing a mysterious creature outside and embarking on a quest. What makes a good puzzle game? A clever core mechanic, expanded and iterated upon, like in RYB? A compelling overall package that ties the whole game together, such as Device 6?Ī unique aesthetic and direction that ties presentation with mechanics, as seen in The Witness?Ī good puzzler can excel in myriad ways, and yet Gorogoa succeeds in all of those variables, delivering an engaging experience that intrigues and surprises through its elegant design.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |