Artist and game developer Jason Roberts worked on Gorogoa for over five years. The game is now out for iOS, among others, and it turns out to be a unique app.
Mysterious and vague
Gorogoa is a puzzle game with a story. We can tell that it is about a boy who has to collect five objects, but a large part is kept vague and mysterious, so that the player can give their own interpretation. It’s a big part of the charm and magic that the game manages to offer.
The game itself is a combination of comic book and sliding puzzle. There are a number of panels in each screen. You can move, swap and zoom them. By doing that, you link scenes that at first seem to have almost nothing to do with each other. In this way the pictures always come to life and you bring the main character further.
Panels slide and deform
There is a system for asking for hints, but often the puzzles are quite achievable if you look closely and try. Sometimes you suddenly see how you can drag a certain layer out of a panel and then completely new possibilities unfold. You are constantly working to change the panels and unravel the secrets. That nothing is what it seems, keeps discovering fun and fresh.
Gorogoa pushes you as a player in one direction, thanks to paintings and symbols. They are part of the works of art in the panels, but at the same time provide information to help you progress. The puzzles are challenging, but never annoying. Creator Jason Roberts drew everything by hand and that produces images that are truly unique.
Download Gorogoa
If you have the choice, Gorogoa plays best on the iPad. The drawings are less intricate and it plays a little better than on the iPhone. Still, a touchscreen is very nice for a game like this, where you drag and zoom a lot. Gorogoa is a fairly short game, it takes an hour and a half to get through it. However, you will get a very good time in return for 4.49 euros.
→ Download Gorogoa from the App Store (5.49 euros)