GNOG

Everything feels designed to make you happy, and even when an answer takes a little while to uncover, the distinctive art style and music make it a joy to wrap yourself up. [July 2017, p.82]

GNOG is an excellent title and well worth anyone’s time. It takes excellent advantage of the PlayStation VR functionality to produce something beautiful and striking, both visually and aurally. While it could potentially benefit from some extra puzzles and a bit more polishing, it is still a solid title and worthy addition to your PlayStation VR library.

Even if you spend ages noodling around there, Gnog won’t last you very long. [August 2017, p77]

Reminiscent of both Hohokum and Polly Pocket, K0-0P Mode's bright, chunky dioramas are a treat for kids young and old - particularly in PS VR. Glory to Gnog! [July 2016, p.89]

The charming oddity of GNOG makes for a fun and stress-free gaming experience. It's fitting that Double Fine published the title as it feels right at home with Schafer and company’s collection of unique downloadable games, like Stacked and The Cave. The added VR functionality is neat, but the game doesn’t use it enough to justify its purchase strictly as a VR game. As a side note, I added it to my list of games that I’d demonstrate when showing off VR primarily for its soothing and nausea-free experience. At $15, it is a predictably short game that doesn’t offer much replay value (beyond trophies), but the hour or two it took to get through all nine puzzle boxes was a delightful experience that I’m happy to recommend.

GNOG is a wonderful puzzle game. Its colorful graphics, oniric mood and thoughtful puzzles makes it worth a look for every fan of the genre. Unfortunately, its very short length makes it miss the must-have category.

GNOG serves as a great way to spend an afternoon and one of those rare occurrences where you’ll want that earworm (albeit a relaxed, whimsical one) floating around in your brain.

An enjoyable, if brief puzzle experience with a unique style and trial-and-error gameplay.

Quotation forthcoming.

Maybe GNOG is a little too expensive for its content, but you still have to try it with or without PlayStation VR.

GNOG is an amazing game, that makes you discover feel like a kid. It's short, yes, but we think it's worth it... in VR. If you're planning on playing on a regular screen, the experience isn't that immersive, but it still is original and beautiful.

If GNOG were five dollars cheaper I’d put it up as a can’t-miss PSVR experience and a solidly diverting PS4 puzzle title. As it is, however, I’d warn that it really is just an hour long, and ask how much money players are willing to spend on such a brief experience. It looks and sounds great, and it really is the kind of light puzzle experience that all ages can enjoy, but it’s definitely over too soon.

Judging by how fun GNOG is even sans PlayStation VR, and knowing what VR is generally like having tried it many times, it feels safe to recommend GNOG wholeheartedly if you possess the tech for its full potential. Otherwise, the recommendation is less obvious; GNOG hosts pleasant, colorful visuals, a literal interactive toy box, and clever puzzles that tax the mind but perhaps don’t ever truly test it. GNOG is thus an imaginative, worthwhile creation, unlikely to win over non-puzzle fans but certain to at the very least charm most everyone else. If you do own PlayStation VR, my gut tells me you’ll want to experience GNOG regardless. If not, its mere $15 asking price is, in my view, still plenty justified.

There’s nothing quite like GNOG out there in design terms , with each monster puzzle box giving the impression of being a toy. The VR aspect is a really nice option that enhances the experience too. However, while GNOG looks and sounds great, it doesn’t generally offer much difficulty, instead happy to almost point out the answers to you. A charming but short and simple puzzle game, it’s nice and accessible to everyone.

Gnog distills the joy of fiddling with switches, dials, and knobs into a potent liquid and then uses that fluorescent elixir to invigorate a monster’s brain. The result is a collection of orderly puzzles eager to illustrate logic while soaked in giddying medley of spaceships, electricity, and mother birds. If you were ever allowed to peer inside of a candy monster’s skull, Gnog is precisely what you would find.

Although GNOG is brief enough to be a single-sitting game, that length feels about right, give or take another puzzle or two to really round out the package. Most everything is well-thought-out, polished, and delightful, so even with those quibbles, there's a lot to love.

Gnog is a simple puzzle game that never pushes the player too hard. Opening each box to rotate its wheels, push its buttons, and solve its puzzles is relaxing. It surprised me with its charm and made me eager to pursue each new box as I unlocked them. Putting together solutions and watching the resulting animations and musical numbers simply made me happy.

Gnog is a unique puzzler that combines truly great puzzles with a fantastic visual experience. The game is short but sweet, and is perfect for kids due to the easy controls and vibrant colours.

It's a gorgeously constructed fusion of puzzling and subtle storytelling with a final stage that hints at the complexity KO_OP might achieve if it ever gets around to making a sequel. [Issue#189, p.79]

GNOG is an artistic fever dream that oozes imagination; it is equal parts delightful and bizarre.

Bizarre, abstract, and completely beautiful. GNOG’s puzzles aren’t difficult but they are strangely entrancing, especially in VR.

More a nifty little virtual reality experience than a game but with an almost overwhelming amount of charm, GNOG is delightful. While it by no means feels like a full-sized title, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. It may not take you too long to see all that it has to offer, but it's still an absolutely beautiful game that you’ll want to get lost in.

GNOG is the video game equivalent of synesthesia. The bright colors are incredible, the simple, but disgustingly clever, puzzles are perfectly designed, and the experience inside the headset is wonderfully presented. However, it’s just such a bizarre and simple game, without anything new to really help it stand out. That it isn’t for everyone. But if you love gorgeous, modern art-style puzzle experiences that challenge your mind, then GNOG could be just your kind of weird.

GNOG is an incredibly well presented VR experience with the audio and visuals combining perfectly. It’s easy to get into and enjoyable for the entirety of its short length, though it’s lacking a little in the gameplay department.

GNOG is a curious beast; an odd monster, or series of monsters rather. It’s a visual and auditory treat, with bright colors and rich soundscapes highlighting a bizarre game that doesn’t seem to really have much direction or purpose. The puzzles are fun to poke, prod, and figure out, particularly in VR where each puzzle diorama head really has a chance to come to life in front of you, but the sense of wonder GNOG tries to invoke fades too quickly, leaving me with the feeling that this is more a sensory artifice than it is a digital Rubik’s Cube.

With just a handful of puzzles it'll also be over in no time, so it's best if you just take your time and take in all of the sights and sounds while you can.

GNOG is a sight to behold in virtual reality, but when that spectacle is taken away it becomes an incredibly charming, yet non-spectacular, puzzle game. The audiovisual experience trumps the puzzle design, and there’s not enough complexity for any real eureka moments to occur. KO_OP has made a game that’ll keep the player’s attention for the two hours it lasts, but one that fails to make any sort of lasting impact.