It’s been good to see the gaming media come around to the idea that the way you play a game can have a lot of impact on how you feel about the game. There’s been a number of titles over the years which I’ve stopped playing somewhat prematurely because I could feel my opinion tending towards the negative. So it seems for this reviewer who found their extended time in the latest Indiana Jones open world game felt all the worse for it. So it seems for Prickle too as whilst this is currently only a PC game, something which typically demands you play it for a good while, it would be far better placed as a casual pick up game on mobile.
Prickle’s premise is simple: it’s a Sokoban style puzzle game where you’re an enterprising hedgehog that needs to wrangle your hoglets. All you need to do is bump up to them and then maneuver those little munchkins to the nearest exit. Simple right? Of course with any game that presents a seemingly simple challenge there’s an infinite number of complexities that you can hit, so solving each level takes a bit of lateral thinking in order to make it through. The game will also throw additional mechanics (like things that stick to you that aren’t hoglets) whilst also challenging you to think several moves ahead so you don’t inadvertently get yourself stuck.
What initially drew me to the game were the achingly adorable visuals and what I can only assume was a fun filled few days of recording all sorts of differently snuffling and grunting foley. I’m a sucker for these kinds of things as it’s not often we get people breaking out of the typical low poly/low texture stuff in the indie space these days. Doing your own sound work is another challenge altogether and so I really do appreciate the level of effort the devs put into audiovisual aspects of Prickle.
Gameplay wise it’s super straightforward. You’ll often start off by looking at a puzzle, assuming the most obvious solution is the answer only to find the condition that renders it null almost immediately. The game gives you both an undo function as well as a puzzle reset option, meaning you can iterate on a number of different solutions quickly. Often though most of my breakthroughs came from working backwards from my (supposed) final solution. Of course there’s always the trap of your own assumptions being wrong and if you get stuck for too long I’d recommend trying things that absolutely “could not” work as whilst they might not they serve as good assumption breakers.
I did find myself getting a little burnt out on the puzzles though and I think that’s because I sat down and started to grind it out like any other game I’d play on the PC. That’s not really how Prickle is meant to be played though I think as it’s much better when played in short bursts. That’s what makes mobile such a great target I feel as sitting down to a PC, for me at least, means an extended gaming session. Mobile on the other hand I’m much more likely to play something for a handful of minutes to kill time over a longer period. I’m sure the devs are already thinking about this and, hopefully, they’ve found enough success with the PC release to make that a reality.
Prickle absolutely delivers on what it promises: a cute, wonderfully crafted and simple looking puzzle game that belies its complexity. There’s a lot to love here, just don’t burn yourself out on trying to smash through as much of it as you can in one sitting. No this is the game you play between games, or when you have those few moments left over that you can’t spend productively anywhere else. For that Prickle is perfect.
Rating: 8.0/10
Prickle is available on PC right now for $10.25. Total playtime was 0.5 hours with 30% of the achievements unlocked.
