Toodee and Topdee

 PC
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Digitally Downloaded
    Aug 9, 2021
    70
    Toodee and Topdee could have been something truly essential if the developers had have funnelled the creative energy that they put into the puzzles and mechanics into some other areas of game design, too. Unfortunately, the game doesn't have the personality, aesthetics or energy to stand toe-to-toe with the big guns. But the puzzles themselves show a confident understanding of good design and creativity. Ultimately that is the most important thing for a puzzle game, so hopefully, the developers get the chance to revisit what they've done here with a slightly broader vision. This team clearly has talent in spades.
  2. Edge Magazine
    Sep 10, 2021
    60
    The mix of leaping and pushing blocks forces you to exercise thumbs and prefrontal cortex alike, but jumping between the two can jar. [Issue#363, p.123]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. casualpigeon
    Aug 12, 2021
    10
    Full disclosure I am friends with the developer and have my name in the credits. So I first found Toodee and Topdee around a year ago on theFull disclosure I am friends with the developer and have my name in the credits. So I first found Toodee and Topdee around a year ago on the ld forums for the demo I kept seeing it. so one day I said hey couldn't hurt to check it out. So I launch it up and fell in love instantly. The game has a lot of personality and really polished art and gameplay. Ive been in the community and the way the developer worked and showed the game development is amazing and constantly interacting with community. Ive played the entire game 100% that includes the secret . The base game alone is worth the price alone rn plus the game sounds like there's a patch in the works for the bugs we've found so far and a switch release maybe nothings confirmed there. The extra gameplay is also worth it theres bugs in the game and if you collect a certain amount of them you get a extra chapter and if you get all of them well just best to find out yourself.… Full Review »
  2. Shinakuman
    Sep 6, 2022
    10
    I'm always worried when a game features one of those gimmicky looking mechanics, because it's so painful to watch the delivery fall short. ButI'm always worried when a game features one of those gimmicky looking mechanics, because it's so painful to watch the delivery fall short. But I'm a sucker for perspective switching and thankfully Toodee and Topdee delivers in spades. Every time you think you've become familiar with what their take on this mechanic has to offer, it throws in a new variation that pleasantly surprises. The puzzles designs are excellent - challenging, but always obvious once you figure it out. And the art is simply charming. For a 6 hour title, this is a surprisingly satisfying experience. Highly recommended.… Full Review »
  3. leyaotang
    Dec 26, 2021
    4
    Toodee and Topdee - Steam Version - v 1.0.0.4.
    The metagame is a boom of creativity and knowing on algorithmic thinking. In contrast it is an    Toodee and Topdee - Steam Version - v 1.0.0.4.
    The metagame is a boom of creativity and knowing on algorithmic thinking. In contrast it is an aesthetic promise above gameplay. The "cutscenes" are more the game than the player's experience.
    Is this an indie game for sure? In fact it is a game made by only two brothers. Despite of this the final game was in partnership with Super Rare Games publisher (based in London) mainly for marketing. In the press kit website content we can get: "The jam version received great feedback, and so Gonen and Ori decided to make it their first commercial project". I suspected that it was a game jam game, it has many compact features typical of a game jam game. You can search for the original Ludum Dare 41 entry and play the pre-alpha/alpha version.
    References/Legacy - Maybe FEZ by Polytron could be a strong reference in genre mechanics and small gimmicks. Also the integration of the ludic, the narrative and the music in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP by Superbrothers and Capybara Games, with music by Jim Guthrie. The deus ex machina use is very frequent. We could see the similar plattform/puzzle level design in Master Spy by TURBOGUN too. But without a doubt the game is more based on other designs that appear a lot in game jam games.
    Characters - Personality traits - Toodee is rude in speech; Topdee is polited. Todee is cool, awesome, Sonic-like. Topdee is not too charismatic, indeed is very no guts. However we will see at the end of the game a very interesting change in the characters, like a monumental plot twist. The character design of the protagonists is cliché due to the fact of the cute/kawaii and super deformed form is in check nowadays. In the present we have other potentials in a impressionist way to explore pixel art without cute/kawaii/SD appeal - in other words we do not need forced face expressions and big heads to mark humanism in the small frame of pixels, it is not a technical problem today and we could explore other aesthetic markers (including doing it in tribute to retro games).
    The side characters are sort OK sort a little bland. The glitches and guardians could have more design in it. We feel a promise of lore and metagame network by the characters however it not happens. Need more ludo-engagement through the plot.
    Visuals - that kind of pixel art emulated in low poly 3D is a really solid tendency nowadays in indie development, see the searching for the tools picoCAD and SpriteStack in the present year that can "convert" 2d pixel art in a so-so-3D art (not voxel). In the game there is a magic feature with solidness - it is very impressive the change between the 2D (Toodee) perspective and 3D (Topdee) perspective and vice-versa in the dialogues scenes. It dinamizes the game! The game physics is a great topic! The cloud physics and art are very simple and fun.
    Thinking on the playability and the ludo-moto - the puzzles and the design of plattform jumps is well-constructed in a hard way. "Hard" here means a rather orthodox logic - straight. However the pig mechanics in not "hard", being an epicentre of playful creativity. The boss/guardian fights are well constructed in a cubic/kaleidoscopic point, very unique indeed - reminds me of some boss battles in Contra: Hard Corps (Konami, Mega Drive) that are very strong in singular gimmicks.
    Music - The general feeling is that the music would be more interesting in another game and in another decade, maybe in the year of 2012 when the FEZ game was published. The same compelling and compulsory visual aesthetic of the game jams can be felt in the musical aesthetic. We can feel great aesthetic vices present in the inner culture of Ludum Dare jamers. On the other hand - we can feel de efforts of the integration between game design and musical composition near to the work of Jim Guthrie in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP in some aspects, but far from something koshiroist.
    Localization - Optimization - Accessibility - see the full review - wasdtest dot com / reviews
    Finally, the game is too short and the cost-benefit is not interesting when we balance the aesthetic promises against what the game actually is in praxis experience. Maybe the game needed another 1 or 2 years of development. It was not enough to transform the submitted game jam build for Ludum Dare. Could have explored more the metaworld with more lore and satyric and pythonesque plot and being more careful with mechanics and music.
    The balance points out that the Toodee and Topdee is not recommended since the negative topics outweigh the positive topics looking from the point of view of a player from an emerging country who will buy the game on Steam. Although there is no desire to ask for a refund - possibly a good update could come or a free DLC.    … Full Review »
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