Gorogoa

Gorogoa crafts its inventive, sliding-tile puzzles and magical world with a graceful simplicity across a compact but fulfilling adventure. The excitement of solving each puzzle may be lost on a repeat playthrough, but its hand-drawn art and clever payoffs are no less satisfying to watch unfold again and again. Gorogoa manages to say so much without uttering a single word, endowing it with a mystery that invites a more attentive, thoughtful revisit — and one that I was more than happy to accept.

There’s a creative mind-bending aspect to some of the puzzles – at the right zoom level panels can be visually combined in clever ways. It really is a very carefully crafted game and I found the difficulty level just right – both pleasantly challenging and satisfying. While over quickly, I really enjoyed Gorogoa.

By allowing you to play with paintings, Gorogoa takes form as one of the most impressive and smart puzzlers. By mixing up the ethereal and tangible, it plays around with your perspective in the form of a handcrafted kaleidoscope. Despite its short duration, it’s a touching experience, one of the gems of 2017.

Gorogoa is a beautiful albeit short puzzle game worth experiencing even if you aren't a brilliant puzzle solver.

Gorogoa is a very subtle and brilliantly innovative visual experience that will let your wide wide open long after its conclusion, thanks to a clever structure from start to finish. Jason Roberts' first game choose to mute this narrative puzzle tale, only to focus on strong visuals that navigates somewhere between surrealism and melancholy. Gorogoa may be quick to finish, but a second run seems clearly mandatory once you saw the ending. Too bad that all the available versions of the game display such different prices.

Surreal, dreamlike, enigmatic and deeply hypnotic.

Gorogoa is quaint, expressive and beautiful, delivering a lush narrative full of different potential interpretations carried by game mechanics which challenge players to think in unfamiliar and creative ways.

Gorogoa is worthy of everyone’s attention. Writing about it doesn’t do the game the favor it deserves so walk away, grab your Switch, a cup of tea and unwind through the calming waters of Robert’s evocative creation!

I’ve seen articles mentioning that Gorogoa was created by a single man over a number of years, and it’s clearly a monumental labor of love. I want to respect that and I appreciate the amount of work that must’ve gone into this title… I honestly can’t even imagine. That said, as someone coming to this project knowing nothing about it beforehand, I found the Swiss-watch mechanics and detailed illustrations to be impressive, but the experience fell short in all other aspects. I’d love to view an edited Let’s Play of all the sequences being solved in order, but I have a tough time recommending it as something to play.

Gorogoa’s main problem lies with its outdated linear approach. It’s a fantastic, distinctive looking game with a solid hook for progression through its puzzles, but it ironically doesn’t take a lot of risks. If you want a good hour or so to play a unique puzzle game, Gorogoa will fill that void, but just don’t expect it to do much more than that.

I wish that this was an actual storybook, a heavy thing bound in leather and built from parchment.

While the short length is somewhat disappointing, Gorogoa is still a breathtaking experience. The gorgeous art and engaging puzzles fuse together for something otherworldly. I don’t know if I’ll revisit Gorogoa, except to maybe show friends, but the focused, impressive design will stick with me for a long time.

It is a beautiful and thoroughly captivating short story. Puzzles, while not overly difficult, are thoughtfully constructed and fit together like clockwork. Robert’s plays with our perceptions and understands that the audience is capable of keeping up with the unfolding story.

The art is stunning, the atmosphere fascinating, and the puzzles are incredibly devious and clever. Gorogoa might not be a long game, but it is easily one of the most engaging puzzle games in recent memory.