It started off as a novel and cute puzzle game where you push and pull blocks that I found fun, but my enjoyment started to really waver towards the 4 star and above puzzles as it made me realize that doing those higher level puzzles required actual foresight, and not me just manhandling and hoping the blocks I pushed lead towards the top, was a skill the game was asking from me that I did not have/learned. I don't know if there were specific tricks to the game I was supposed to pick up on and mentally keep a bookmark of, but towards the final few levels of the special challenges, I just decided to use a guide as you have to move the blocks in a certain order so many times it was really getting on my nerves that little John Pushmo and the rewind function were so insanely slow where I was already struggling on trying to figure out the puzzle in general.
Playing this game where I had to stare at colored blocks when some of my play sessions were around a few hours really drained my mind and made me feel like I was in a padded cell made to look like a Rubik's cube with a single plushie in a sumo outfit.
Playing this game where I had to stare at colored blocks when some of my play sessions were around a few hours really drained my mind and made me feel like I was in a padded cell made to look like a Rubik's cube with a single plushie in a sumo outfit.
At first glance, Pushmo appears to be a simple tile puzzle game, but it's much more challenging than it seems when playing the game. It starts off easy with the tutorial, but once you're on your own, the 250+ short puzzle challenges will really test your skills. I was taken aback at first, but came around to find it this game’s biggest strength. It really does test my skills in solving tile puzzles consistently and therefore keeps me engaged from start to finish. It would’ve been the opposite if the game was a breeze from the get-go with the tile puzzles.
However, Intelligent Systems thought that it was a bright idea to allow players to skip levels when they are stuck on them for a while, and I don't like this at all as it diminishes the challenge of the game. The only punishment for players is not getting the main collectible in that particular level, but that doesn't feel like a huge punishment at all. Besides that, my other complaint is that the tutorial was a bit slow to get through with these lessons that you have to do.
Nonetheless, this was a pleasant surprise to experience, having way more meat and challenge to it than it looks at surface level. Definitely play it if you are looking for a solid tile puzzle game to sink your teeth into for a while on the 3ds.
However, Intelligent Systems thought that it was a bright idea to allow players to skip levels when they are stuck on them for a while, and I don't like this at all as it diminishes the challenge of the game. The only punishment for players is not getting the main collectible in that particular level, but that doesn't feel like a huge punishment at all. Besides that, my other complaint is that the tutorial was a bit slow to get through with these lessons that you have to do.
Nonetheless, this was a pleasant surprise to experience, having way more meat and challenge to it than it looks at surface level. Definitely play it if you are looking for a solid tile puzzle game to sink your teeth into for a while on the 3ds.
I played this maybe a few times as a kid and got stuck pretty early on, but after trying it again over a decade later, I've come to love it, and I'm addicted. It's such a simple concept, and despite the puzzles getting more complex, I haven't felt any of them were unfair save for maybe one or two.
This game and its series needs to be on Switch
This game and its series needs to be on Switch
Every puzzle game should have an option for dark mode. Playing these games before bed would be nice, but it’s not ideal when it’s always a daytime theme. Other than that, I love the cute sumo character and cozy art style. The trilogy is a gem for the handheld, making great use of the 3D feature. Every time I think about selling my New 3DS XL, the Pushmo trilogy pulls me back in
This review contains spoilers
Pushmo is a 3D tile-based puzzle game released exclusively on the 3DS eShop back in 2011, the year of release of the console. And it is an oddly charming and cute title fitting for the handheld, the story is pretty much null but the objective is very clear, you're playing as Mallo, a sumo looking lil' guy mascot of the series that must solve these "Pushmo" wall thingies by pushing tiles and climbing to the top of these most of the times, the idea is that all tiles that are connected and are of the same color move along, so with that and the three levels of depth you can move them in the three-dimensional space you basically have a few things to think ahead of when climbing these puzzles, luckily enough you're equipped with a Rewind button so you can fix up any mistakes you make. It's a simple premise, and kind of made so you chip away at it slowly as a sort of "night table" game, you beat a couple of puzzles one day and then come back the next to hopefully beat some more and so on, quintessential grandma gaming basically.
So, this might strike as weird, why do I decide to make a review out of a game this simple? If the game was just baby puzzles this would've ended a while back, but I'm here to expose the absolute demonic intent this game hides behind the cutesy facade...
First of all, this game has a bit of a problem with its difficulty curves, there's no real gradual difficulty and it's all over the place, one puzzle can be absurdly easy but then the other one is hard hard, the indicators with stars that define the difficulty also seem to be off sometimes, I've had some trouble with some three-star puzzles more than I've had with some five-star ones and that's just weird, and this wouldn't be a problem if the hardest puzzles weren't such a headache to figure out. With the medium comes that you have to use much more of your senses to actually play the game, it's not just some crossword that you can do pretty much in automatic, so when a puzzle is very hard instead of getting the satisfaction of beating it you instead beat yourself over it for not getting it, later on they become exponentially longer so it's not really a thing of popping one to play every now and then or before going to bed.(ESPECIALLY looking a those DAMNED Bonus Murals you unlock at the end when you think you're done, they're a nightmare.)
In Pushmo there are also some hidden elements of platforming, it's more seen in the later stages but sometimes it isn't enough to climb up but you need to actually make tight jumps, jump all the way down to go elsewhere to set up a path or make a movement without activating a switch that will move tiles to the front, now, if this is the thing with the later and more difficult stages I have no idea why movement is so limited? There's a lot of jumps that could be done theoretically, and you can even buffer your Zoom Out button for precise frame movements and you'll notice how Mallo is purposefully not allowed to do those jumps, he gets sent back. And then these nerfings work against you in the last stages of the Bonus Murals where you actually need to make some intricate platforming, and that's really annoying because it's not like the 3DS circle pad is the best for those kinds of moves too.
Cutesy and iconic of the long-past Nintendo 3DS eShop era, however could probably have used some more refining to make it more of a zen puzzling experience, but if their objective was to indeed hurt people who think they're smarter than the game (me) then I salute, you've done it. Now take your mid rating and go.
So, this might strike as weird, why do I decide to make a review out of a game this simple? If the game was just baby puzzles this would've ended a while back, but I'm here to expose the absolute demonic intent this game hides behind the cutesy facade...
First of all, this game has a bit of a problem with its difficulty curves, there's no real gradual difficulty and it's all over the place, one puzzle can be absurdly easy but then the other one is hard hard, the indicators with stars that define the difficulty also seem to be off sometimes, I've had some trouble with some three-star puzzles more than I've had with some five-star ones and that's just weird, and this wouldn't be a problem if the hardest puzzles weren't such a headache to figure out. With the medium comes that you have to use much more of your senses to actually play the game, it's not just some crossword that you can do pretty much in automatic, so when a puzzle is very hard instead of getting the satisfaction of beating it you instead beat yourself over it for not getting it, later on they become exponentially longer so it's not really a thing of popping one to play every now and then or before going to bed.
In Pushmo there are also some hidden elements of platforming, it's more seen in the later stages but sometimes it isn't enough to climb up but you need to actually make tight jumps, jump all the way down to go elsewhere to set up a path or make a movement without activating a switch that will move tiles to the front, now, if this is the thing with the later and more difficult stages I have no idea why movement is so limited? There's a lot of jumps that could be done theoretically, and you can even buffer your Zoom Out button for precise frame movements and you'll notice how Mallo is purposefully not allowed to do those jumps, he gets sent back. And then these nerfings work against you in the last stages of the Bonus Murals where you actually need to make some intricate platforming, and that's really annoying because it's not like the 3DS circle pad is the best for those kinds of moves too.
Cutesy and iconic of the long-past Nintendo 3DS eShop era, however could probably have used some more refining to make it more of a zen puzzling experience, but if their objective was to indeed hurt people who think they're smarter than the game (me) then I salute, you've done it. Now take your mid rating and go.
Uma das preciosidades do console, um puzzle divertido, daqueles que faz você se sentir inteligente ao solucionar o desafio e perfeito para uma jogatina casual no meio do dia
Como todo jogo do gênero começa fácil e depois fica bem desafiador, em alguns níveis mais difíceis fiquei uns dois dias quebrando a cabeça para conseguir resolver
Além de divertido prestam homenagem as franquias clássicas da Nintendo, com fases em que os blocos formam os personagens em pixel arte!
Se você tem um 3DS aí não deixe de jogar!
Como todo jogo do gênero começa fácil e depois fica bem desafiador, em alguns níveis mais difíceis fiquei uns dois dias quebrando a cabeça para conseguir resolver
Além de divertido prestam homenagem as franquias clássicas da Nintendo, com fases em que os blocos formam os personagens em pixel arte!
Se você tem um 3DS aí não deixe de jogar!