Yoku's Island Express

 PC
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. GameSpot
    Jun 5, 2018
    90
    Yoku’s Island Express takes two unlikely genres and combines them into one playful, natural experience. The game’s audio and visual design is simply joyous and the large game world seamlessly combines its pinball puzzles with some brilliant level designs.
  2. GameWatcher
    May 30, 2018
    90
    Yoku’s Island Express brought something to the table few games, even among those I enjoyed, have managed to recently - a true sense of freshness. It really is unlike most games on the market, and it manages to grow beyond this defining gimmick, nailing almost every other aspect. Between the fantastic gameplay, lovely presentation and endearing characters, minor faults like excessive backtracking and a somewhat flat main storyline are negligible.
  3. Hooked Gamers
    Jun 4, 2018
    87
    Yoku's Island Express is a game that's full of surprises and charm. It kept me on my toes with its unique mechanics and visuals, and I'm very happy that the pinball aspects never became taxing. If pinball isn't quite your thing but you love casual adventure or metroidvania games, I think you'll enjoy Yoku's Island Express immensely.
  5. PC Gamer
    Jun 8, 2018
    85
    A blend of mismatched genres that somehow works, Yoku’s Island Express is a beguiling game of modest brilliance.
  6. Jeuxvideo.com
    Jun 12, 2018
    80
    Who said Metroidvania and pinball can’t exist in the same game? Yoku’s Island Express shows the opposite by being a great game, thanks to very uncommon and never frustrating gameplay.
  7. Gamersky
    Jun 5, 2018
    80
    Yoku's Island Express perfectly blends Metroidvania platformer with pinball game, and it's incredibly smooth and fun.
  8. IGN
    May 29, 2018
    80
    While the campaign smartly doesn’t overstay its welcome — it took me about six hours to complete, including some distractions — collecting all 80 of Yoku’s hidden Wickerlings, finding all of its chests, and completing some other simple missions like delivering letters made me want to keep playing even after the credits rolled.
  9. SpazioGames
    Jun 4, 2018
    75
    Pinballs are coming back within this title, whose narrative background is not so deep and intense, while its gameplay and tactics features are really well conceived. Colourful, frenetic and catchy, Yoku's Island Express is a good alternative in a AAA-dominated market. Boredom not included.
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In Progress & Unscored

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  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Aug 27, 2018
    Yoku’s Island Express feels to me like a palate cleanser. I played it in short bursts at the end of long days and was refreshed by it each time. It’s not rich enough in terms of its ideas and set-pieces to get under your skin and I likely won’t remember much of the details of my time with it a year from now, but I will remember that it provided me with easy, simple pleasure. I could use a few more games like that in my life.

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best PC Game of 2018

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 73
  3. Negative: 5 out of 73
  1. Did-
    Mar 29, 2019
    7
    You’re a huge fan of Pinball, and played “3D Pinball Space Cadet” for hours and hours, but since Windows Vista you feel empty?
    Oh, and you    You’re a huge fan of Pinball, and played “3D Pinball Space Cadet” for hours and hours, but since Windows Vista you feel empty?
    Oh, and you also love this kind of beetles that push dung balls around all day?
    Wow, then, I just got THE game for you!

    Yoku’s Island Express is about a bug pushing a ball around trying to save the island from a mischievous God. Although it can push the ball around, there are pinball paddles everywhere on the island, and a small tap on LT or RT will send the ball flying, dragging our small helpless Yoku through mazes. I really liked the idea of adding pinball mechanics inside a platformer game, it’s novative and creates interesting levels.

    But it quickly can become boring, when some parts are too difficult and you just rage about why your ball is not going where you want to (but maybe that’s what pinball is all about?).
    Nevertheless, the game can get especially boring when you have to go through an area again to find collectibles or just move to the next destination. Like in a Metroidvania, you gain different powers as you explore, but those are most of the time used to reach new zones, and don’t help much traversing old zones, so you often have to redo some parts over and over again while more shortcuts would have been appreciated.

    There is a fast travel though. You can go to a beehive and be thrown from beehive to beehive until your destination, making some kind of zipline. It’s totally integrated inside the lore, and the bee music is amazing! But you can only get into these beehives from certain locations, and I feel there are too few of those spots. I spent a lot of time planning routes to the closest beehive, and ending pushing my ball longer than was really needed.

    Nevertheless, this game’s really cute, the graphics are amazing, especially given the small size of the game studio. The music also adds a lot to the beautiful scenery the game offers.
    (Oh, and the devs attached me to a huge boulder and put me on a big paddle, so I shouldn’t say too many bad things... Oh dung, I think they heard meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee *)    … Full Review »
  2. turgaysenturk
    Jul 13, 2023
    7
    Yoku's Island Express captures the nostalgic joy of pinball that I cherished as a child. The game's unique blend of pinball mechanics and aYoku's Island Express captures the nostalgic joy of pinball that I cherished as a child. The game's unique blend of pinball mechanics and a specific purpose brought back fond memories. Though there were moments of frustration, I persevered and gradually improved. The story was decent, and the challenges and boss fights provided fun experiences. If you enjoyed playing pinball in the past, you should give this game a try.… Full Review »
  3. AlexMakesToast
    Jan 4, 2023
    4
    Yoku = 4/10
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