Chop Goblins is small and simple, and hides its craftsmanship under that layer of simplicity and simpleness. Most elements of the game are there just enough to create unique and thoughtful gameplay experiences. Despite such a small weapon and enemy palette, each level tells its own story with its own gameplay and environment elements. Those tiny environment elements really do a lot of heavy lifting with making each level feel like a special experience.

It also genuinely surprised me how well balanced around weapon affordances the harder gamemodes were. Playing Goblin Mode with the original weapon progression versus playing it with secrets/Once Again Mode weapons is a totally different experience. The game you play between those two modes is so different it almost feels like two different gamemodes packaged into one game setting, with the actual dividing logic being the player's own prior knowledge or game choices.