Game 7: Phogs
This is a surprisingly charming and cute co-op puzzle game. When I first picked up Phogs I did so with the intent of playing it co-op, but due to circumstances, I could only play it single player for the majority of it. While I can say that there is a certain chemistry for playing it with another player, overall Phogs really just stood out as a wonderful little puzzle game.
Perhaps Phogs biggest selling point is the aesthetic that it lends itself to in each individual world that really captures the heart and minds of an individual. While there is plenty of gameplay to be talked about, each world's theme
is utilized so well that without it a lot of the charm of the game is gone. Food world giving a step by step showcase of crop harvesting, cooking food, and sending it out to the masses being one such example. By doing so, each level can tell a little story while you sus out exactly what you have to do with each puzzle. Each level has certain characters that do something that you either help with or just showcase what the world is about. In doing so, the game can get us to care about the world of Phogs in such a subtle way that it almost feels non-existant, but that's exactly the point. When you are playing co-op rarely do you have time to digest the world Phogs shows you, and the game itself is fun because of the person you're playing with. But if you are playing the game alone, the game works just as fine as you now have time to look at everything properly and really feel apart of the world. Which honestly I just find kinda brilliant as it's effectively telling us the story the same way games like Metroid Prime do, by experiencing it and personally going out of our way to enjoy it.
It's always good to have a brain teaser of a puzzler, and Phogs being such a puzzle game delivers. As mentioned before a lot of the puzzles are feed from there respective worlds, and in doing so you are constantly given new mechanics to work with in each level as well as being tasked with finding a bunch of collectibles and doing certain side missions. While I don't find the puzzles taxing, they do engage you in such a way that the game requires your full attention to get everything out of a single level. I wouldn't say Phogs is a particularly challenging game tho, but there is a difficulty spike in a few places. Mainly whenever Phogs starts breaking out of the simple explore puzzle dynamic, and they try to take on other genres like stealth missions or arcade games. Thankfully these levels are mainly gimmicks, and only really cause stress if you're going for achievements. Still the final level really doesn't have such an excuse, and for being the last hurtle to overcome, it does it's job of being challenging, but not well. Basically the last level introduces mechanics that are only featured there, and aren't really explained well enough to implement in a way that other mechanics of the game have.
Honestly though, if you are looking for a good co-op game, or even a good puzzle game, Phogs really hit's the itch of being interesting and challenging enough to keep you engaged in it.
This is a surprisingly charming and cute co-op puzzle game. When I first picked up Phogs I did so with the intent of playing it co-op, but due to circumstances, I could only play it single player for the majority of it. While I can say that there is a certain chemistry for playing it with another player, overall Phogs really just stood out as a wonderful little puzzle game.
Perhaps Phogs biggest selling point is the aesthetic that it lends itself to in each individual world that really captures the heart and minds of an individual. While there is plenty of gameplay to be talked about, each world's theme
is utilized so well that without it a lot of the charm of the game is gone. Food world giving a step by step showcase of crop harvesting, cooking food, and sending it out to the masses being one such example. By doing so, each level can tell a little story while you sus out exactly what you have to do with each puzzle. Each level has certain characters that do something that you either help with or just showcase what the world is about. In doing so, the game can get us to care about the world of Phogs in such a subtle way that it almost feels non-existant, but that's exactly the point. When you are playing co-op rarely do you have time to digest the world Phogs shows you, and the game itself is fun because of the person you're playing with. But if you are playing the game alone, the game works just as fine as you now have time to look at everything properly and really feel apart of the world. Which honestly I just find kinda brilliant as it's effectively telling us the story the same way games like Metroid Prime do, by experiencing it and personally going out of our way to enjoy it.
It's always good to have a brain teaser of a puzzler, and Phogs being such a puzzle game delivers. As mentioned before a lot of the puzzles are feed from there respective worlds, and in doing so you are constantly given new mechanics to work with in each level as well as being tasked with finding a bunch of collectibles and doing certain side missions. While I don't find the puzzles taxing, they do engage you in such a way that the game requires your full attention to get everything out of a single level. I wouldn't say Phogs is a particularly challenging game tho, but there is a difficulty spike in a few places. Mainly whenever Phogs starts breaking out of the simple explore puzzle dynamic, and they try to take on other genres like stealth missions or arcade games. Thankfully these levels are mainly gimmicks, and only really cause stress if you're going for achievements. Still the final level really doesn't have such an excuse, and for being the last hurtle to overcome, it does it's job of being challenging, but not well. Basically the last level introduces mechanics that are only featured there, and aren't really explained well enough to implement in a way that other mechanics of the game have.
Honestly though, if you are looking for a good co-op game, or even a good puzzle game, Phogs really hit's the itch of being interesting and challenging enough to keep you engaged in it.