Doki-Doki Universe

The latest cute experiment from Greg Johnson's Humanature is an interesting trip inside human emotions. It has personality, witty humor and the cross-buy options make it available on every Sony console out there. You'd rather play it with your children or little brother/sister.

Doki-Doki Universe isn't for everyone. It doesn't challenge your reflexes, and adventure game purists will likely turn up their noses at the simplistic and easily-solved puzzles.

Witty writing and a large serving of cute means you might just rediscover your humanity. [March 2014, p.83]

Originally, I wasn’t too thrilled with the game, but after giving it some time and exploring multiple planets, I can see the appeal and I actually enjoyed most of what I played. Just don’t expect much action out of the experience and you’ll be fine.

Doki-Doki Universe is a one of a kind game. Some people will love it for its creativity, others will not like that concept. The game is packed with humour, questions and more. It is, however, always the same, so you’ll be done with Doki-Doki Universe quite quickly.

Doki Doki Universe is one of those "liminal" experiences between video games and interactive story, held together by brilliant ideas and the willingness to break the classicism of entertainment.

HumaNature Studios has created something genuinely good-natured and charming with Doki-Doki Universe. Even though elements get tedious, it was overall a welcome change of pace from the ordinary.

From the creator of ToeJam & Earl comes a game about a robot searching for humanity. Doki-Doki Universe has players flying through twenty different planets, all in hopes of finding what makes humans tick.

A fun and unusual romp. It feels like a children's title that also appeals to older gamers thanks to the art style and strange method of conveying its morals to the audience. The game feels like it should only be played in short bursts, due to the monotony that sets in after long sessions of performing the same tasks over and over.

Bursting with personality and cuteness. Challenge anorexic. [February 2014, p83]

A unique concept, a cute style and dito visuals cannot prevent the game from growing stale after a while.

Doki-Doki Universe is barely a game. The only thing you do is walk around and talk to characters, to find out what makes them happy. As an interactive story it's actually quite entertaining and regularly puts a smile on your face.

While I’ve got my steel toecap in the puppy’s ribcage, I might as well say that the galaxy-trotting do-good gig gets repetitive quickly.

Doki Doki Universe isn’t going to appeal to everyone, it isn’t a game that pushes the limits of what is possible, but it is a nice family friendly game that you can go back to time and time again.

Cute and silly but also impressively insightful when it comes to ordinary people’s wants and desires – even if those ordinary people are portrayed as talking sushi rolls.

Doki-Doki Universe uses creation instead of destruction to progress through a rewarding, off-beat story. Some sticky challenges, load times, and other issues mess up its open-ended flow, but they can't keep a good robot down.

Its slant on side quests and completionism did, at first, scratch an itch for me, but Doki soon suffers from its sheer repetition, especially because it lacks any sort of tangible challenge. Doki-Doki Universe began to stumble from exceptional to acceptable as the hours wore on.

This is a strange and wonderful game, one that's equally comfortable exploring the nuances of human interaction as it is sending you through space on a flying piece of poo. Such experiences are rare in games. Then again, there's nothing commonplace about Doki-Doki Universe.

Doki-Doki Universe is a very odd, very cute, and very simple game. There isn't a whole lot to it, so don't go in expecting a deep and rewarding adventure title. So long as you don't mind spending an afternoon helping a tiny snowman bond with his father, Doki-Doki will be more than adequate.

Doki-Doki Universe is unexpectedly confronting. With short psychological tests it gets you thinking about the nature of humanity. As a game it doesn't score as well though. The pace is simply too low and the puzzles aren't very challenging.

This halfway experiment between psychology and interactive entertainment combines humor and the absurd in a modest way. There may be better options to spend your money on, but at least this one is both fun and innovative.

Doki-Doki Universe is a unique and quirky timewaster that unfortunately runs out of steam due to a lack of challenge and variety in its gameplay. While the colourful characters and brilliant art style keep it off the scrap heap, those craving a more involved experience would be better off summoning a different title to add to their collection.

It’s not exactly the most fun of all indies and the gameplay is too basic to entertain. It even becomes dull quickly if not managed carefully.

It’s sweet stuff, but repetition quickly sets in.

Doki-Doki Universe is a cute and interesting timesink, but some uninspiring stories and mechanic issues keep the game from shining and replayability low.

A cute indie game that has its moments of brilliance, that are sadly overshadowed by rather boring gameplay.