Yoku's Island Express

 PC
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

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  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 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    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 *)    … Expand
  2. MaxmilianKohler
    Sep 23, 2021
    5
    This is the type of game that is enjoyable for the most part, yet there are some severe design issues that make you hate the developers of the game.
  3. Bloodnes
    Nov 6, 2020
    6
    Совсем на любителя или для детей, поиграл, вроде и прикольно, но и в тоже время скучно. 6/10
  4. VidGamingFather
    Feb 14, 2022
    7
    My Video Review is available here:
    https://youtu.be/2gkFQb7v-Gc
    Have I enjoyed playing Yoku's Island Express? The answer is positive. At least most of the time. I really like the positive relaxed atmosphere of the game, sense of humor, many original refreshing ideas, variability of the environment, user friendly controls, beautiful graphics, relaxing music and sounds. What I do not    My Video Review is available here:
    https://youtu.be/2gkFQb7v-Gc

    Have I enjoyed playing Yoku's Island Express? The answer is positive. At least most of the time. I really like the positive relaxed atmosphere of the game, sense of humor, many original refreshing ideas, variability of the environment, user friendly controls, beautiful graphics, relaxing music and sounds. What I do not like so much are confusing game map which causes tiresome wandering sometimes and creeping stereotype that come sooner or later despite all original ideas in the game due to the simple game mechanics. Maybe some RPG elements would make it more motivating yet. And of course the local co-op would suit the game as well. Relaxed atmosphere makes the game suitable for family playing but as many puzzles are not so trivial and you need to read to know what to do I would only recommend it for school aged kids.

    Pros:
    - relaxing atmosphere
    - sense of humor
    - refreshing ideas
    - environment
    - controls
    - audiovisuals

    Cons:
    - confusing map
    - creeping stereotype
    - absence of dubbing

    Yoku’s Island Express is definitely not a flawless game but as it has many features making it suitable for playing by fellow Gaming Fathers and their families I am giving it Thumbs Up and VideoGaming Father’s Index 7+ out of 10 - recommended with some discount.    … Expand
  5. 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 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,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 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.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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. 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.
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  2. 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.
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  3. 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.
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