I had the opportunity to play Koa and the 5 pirates before Mail Mole. It’s made by the same developer and the games are very similar in terms of controls, gameplay and structure. The differences are Mail Mole is less polished for being the first game and it’s a bit more challenging. Its style is also more reminiscent of old school platformers for being about animals instead of humans.
The controls are very unique. This isn’t your typical platformer. It can be a positive or a negative depending on what you’re looking for. The game is about creating the perfect momentum for speed and overcoming obstacles to finish a level. You can collect 3 strawberries or try to get a gold medal if you’re fast enough. The game has a lot of content if you include the gold medals and play the 2 free DLC. There are no achievements for the DLC which is a good thing. It looks charming and it sounds right.
So what makes Mail Mole less polished and more challenging? You lose a bit of control when you commit to a boost in speed. Koa accounts for this by making the levels less punishing, allowing you to jump separately from boost, and giving you more time to get the gold medals. Mail Mole expects more perfection by having more traps and death pits. There will be more awkward situations where your boost is not enough to get to certain spots, halting pacing and only accepting specific ways of getting there. The game can also look a bit rough graphically in certain spots although it’s not needed for a game like this. Then there is one bad design decision and minor bugs. You’re not allowed to retry a level without losing your progress the first time you do it. You have to return to the hub world, select the level again and then you can restart without fears of losing the strawberries you collected. The bugs are few but a bit annoying even if they’re not game breaking. Every time you boot up the game, you’re forced to see the last patch notes. You will also see notes for every DLC you’ve downloaded. I haven’t found a way to turn these notes off. The Lost Presents DLC doesn’t work if you load from your main save file but will work if you use a new save file.
Mail Mole might be a bit rough around the edges but I find its style a bit more appealing. If you want a more difficult Koa, want more of that gameplay style or want to see how it started, then this is worth looking into. The game is for a specific audience and a bit more difficult to get into compared to Koa. It took me 14 hours for the main game plus a couple of hours playing the DLC. I’m impressed how both DLC are offered for free. They’re pretty substantial and worth playing. So don’t forget to grab them after completing the main game.
The controls are very unique. This isn’t your typical platformer. It can be a positive or a negative depending on what you’re looking for. The game is about creating the perfect momentum for speed and overcoming obstacles to finish a level. You can collect 3 strawberries or try to get a gold medal if you’re fast enough. The game has a lot of content if you include the gold medals and play the 2 free DLC. There are no achievements for the DLC which is a good thing. It looks charming and it sounds right.
So what makes Mail Mole less polished and more challenging? You lose a bit of control when you commit to a boost in speed. Koa accounts for this by making the levels less punishing, allowing you to jump separately from boost, and giving you more time to get the gold medals. Mail Mole expects more perfection by having more traps and death pits. There will be more awkward situations where your boost is not enough to get to certain spots, halting pacing and only accepting specific ways of getting there. The game can also look a bit rough graphically in certain spots although it’s not needed for a game like this. Then there is one bad design decision and minor bugs. You’re not allowed to retry a level without losing your progress the first time you do it. You have to return to the hub world, select the level again and then you can restart without fears of losing the strawberries you collected. The bugs are few but a bit annoying even if they’re not game breaking. Every time you boot up the game, you’re forced to see the last patch notes. You will also see notes for every DLC you’ve downloaded. I haven’t found a way to turn these notes off. The Lost Presents DLC doesn’t work if you load from your main save file but will work if you use a new save file.
Mail Mole might be a bit rough around the edges but I find its style a bit more appealing. If you want a more difficult Koa, want more of that gameplay style or want to see how it started, then this is worth looking into. The game is for a specific audience and a bit more difficult to get into compared to Koa. It took me 14 hours for the main game plus a couple of hours playing the DLC. I’m impressed how both DLC are offered for free. They’re pretty substantial and worth playing. So don’t forget to grab them after completing the main game.