I’m terrible at puzzle games. My love for Magic: The Gathering is well known to readers here at RipTen, and you would think that would lead me to being a huge puzzle game fan. It’s just the opposite; I hate thinking in most games, and then I jumped into Coloropus. In a beautifully designed world, Pigsels has created a unique, refreshing and challenging puzzler. The key elements will appeal to all ages, proven by my 2 year olds desire to put her grubby paws all over the screen to help Coloropus travel through the world.
In the game, you play as Coloropus, a little… coloropus? There are zero words in the game, so most of this information was found through their website. You travel through an underwater world, trying to save your girl-o-pus-friend and break through difficult roadblocks in the form of color puzzles. All making sense now? Coloropus is a little, translucent, octopus that can absorb the colors of items in the world around him. By combining colors he can create a new color that will allow him to move past a puzzle. For example, if you are stuck behind an orange rock, Colorpus will need to find a (spoilers) red and yellow dye to create orange ink to destroy said stone.
As is the norm for games these days, hot chicks are a big part.
That part of the puzzle is simple enough, but the game is physics based and controlled with the mouse. You must swim around the world, pushing and pulling items to solve problems that prevent you from getting specific colors to solve other pieces of a larger puzzle. This is where I had the most trouble, but never frustratingly so. I knew what I needed, but finding it was difficult. This is more of a reflection on my gaming tastes and patience and less a reflection on the game itself.
The story is charming, and after the initial launching screen, not a word is written in the entire game. Instead, tutorials, important clues and story lines are all told through small animated cartoons. If you remember the days of cutscenes in the old Pac-Man games, they are similar to that. Even the menu is word free, instead using easy to understand icons to inform you of what each button represents.
The sense of scale is well handled.
Controlling Coloropus through the game is simple enough with the mouse. He feels a little heavy as he swims, but never so much so that you can’t complete a particular task because of the controls. Being underwater much of the time makes the movement and physics somewhat sluggish. It’s not something that works for my particular tastes, but it’s also not something that I can knock. It feels right for an underwater game. For reference, if you have played an underwater level in Mario or any Ecco game, you have a rough idea of the speed in which Coloropus moves.
It is very hard to criticize the game at all. If anything, it is a bit difficult, but again, that has more to do with my relative lack of puzzle game experience. If puzzlers are your cup of tea, Coloropus could be a great 10 dollar title for your PC or Mac. Linux users, expect the game soon. Pigsels may be the company to watch, as Coloropus is an enjoyable title that can be played for a few minutes, or a few hours, at a time.
by Chris Gravelle