Öoo

Öoo is a puzzle-platformer game about a cheerful caterpillar looking for the exit to a network of colorful galleries. Navigating these galleries is no easy task, since the caterpillar cannot jump — it has to use the momentum from small bombs instead. The game is paced with concise puzzles and delightful discoveries, a wondrous display of metroidbrainia ingenuity.

Early on in Öoo, the caterpillar gains the ability to detach a part of its body and trigger a blast from it, which if close enough will propel it sideways or upwards. Using this momentum, you can reach higher platforms or get across small gaps. Some of the inputs required are time-sensitive, although that's definitely not the focus of the levels. The caterpillar's body grows back right after using a bomb, but bombs can only be laid while standing on the ground, so getting anywhere requires visualizing possible paths and planning things ahead.

The movement options may feel a little limited at first, but with just a few added elements (a switch on the floor; breakable blocks that reset after a time), Öoo delivers a lot of puzzle creativity. The world is segmented into several areas, and each area is designed to teach you something new about the mechanics. There's a cheekiness to the movement techniques being hidden in plain sight, and it makes it all the more satisfying when new bits of knowledge pop into your head. These aren't arcane secrets either; the game will always nudge you towards a discovery when the time's right.

Öoo features metroidbrainia-style knowledge gates, some of them in the form of yellow frogs blocking the way to deeper areas. Compared with other metroidbrainias like Leap Year though, it feels more straightforward overall: there's almost no ambiguity as to when and where you'll need to backtrack to, and the areas don't branch off into multiple routes. It's a minimal take on non-linearity, with pay-offs that come not from environmental secrets but from being surprised by your own abilities.

This description was written by Oriane Tury.