PHOGS! Review

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you combined a slinky with a dog? How about two dogs? You get a two-headed super stretchy pup. Catch is, these two dogs don’t move together. Each of your thumbsticks controls a different puppy and what they do. If you decide to take on the challenge with a friend, you each control one of the heads and will have to work together to get through all the obstacles and puzzles in the level. This is the perfect game to play with the family. It has nice bright colours, super cute characters, and involves working together instead of trying to compete and destroy each other.

There are two different control schemes available for PHOGS! You can play with one controller in single player mode, or if you really want a challenge when you play multiplayer with someone, you can share the same controller. If this sounds like way too much of a challenge for you, then you can each play with your own. When you are playing co-operative mode, you each control one head of the same doggo. One pup has a red collar and the other one a blue collar, these happen to be the puppies names, RED and BLUE. If you are playing on your own, the left thumbstick controls BLUE and the right controls RED. This concept took my brain a while to figure it out. Even now after hours of play, at times I get frustrated when they don’t do what I want. Would help if I used the proper joystick and buttons I suppose.

PHOGS! will teach you how to control the rubbery dogs. The main actions of the pups are: barking, which causes you to bounce a little, biting, and stretching crazy amounts like a slinky. The tutorials will show you the basic mechanics needed to traverse the main obstacles you will come across in the game. Once you complete these tasks, you jump into the worm tunnel and you are transported to the main hub where you get to choose a world to explore.

PHOGS! has three different themed worlds to play through based on all the things dogs love, food, play and sleep. Food World will make anyone hungry when they see the chocolate rivers, buttered toast and huge spread of food. Play World has you playing and solving puzzles at the beach amusement park, a mini-golf course where you compete against a golf ball character to get the lowest score and even a super cool retro arcade, cause clearly these awesome dogs love videogames.

The visuals on this game are absolutely adorable. The colours are super bright in the Play and Food Worlds, whereas in the Sleep World the colours are dark blues and purples that feel relaxing and calming. You can’t help but smile when you see the cute smiley faces on the sand pails, or the little moon lights that you carry around to light your path in Sleep World. The accompanying soundtrack feels like it fits perfectly with the different worlds you are exploring. The music doesn’t feel out of place or annoying, just fun and upbeat when it needs to be in the Food and Play Worlds or calming and peaceful in Sleep World. It’s definitely one of those games that can cheer you up just by looking at it, definitely needed if you are feeling a bit stressed.

The game is great for people of all ages, as an adult I was even challenged with the puzzles. Figuring out how to solve the puzzle is one thing, then you have to do the required tasks with the dogs. There are tons of different types of puzzles to do here, some require you to use one of the dogs to grab onto a spout of water to make it like a hose, grab onto a fan then the pups become a puppy leaf blower, or games that involve a huge slingshot that you have to pull back and figure out the angle and power needed to hit the target. With a huge variety, the game keeps you thinking and entertained. It doesn’t feel like you are constantly doing the same thing over and over again. As you progress in the game the difficulty level does increase, but it never gets too hard. The puzzles may just take a little more planning and experimenting to solve.

PHOGS! is a super fun game if you are playing single player, but I find it really shines when you are trying to play multiplayer. This will really challenge your communication skills, though it is hilarious when you keep screwing up simple things, or when you are the spectator watching other people trying to work together to get past obstacles. I had a great time watching my kids trying to figure out how to get past a ramp that moved like a teeter-totter (or seesaw). They were killing themselves laughing as they kept screwing up. This game is not only fun to play but it’s entertaining to watch as a spectator which is great when you’re not the one currently playing. With 24 levels this isn’t going to be the longest game you have ever played, but it will be a good time!