It's pretty easy to reflexively hate the Amanita Minion, especially when his game is roughly structured like children's sketch comedy shows like Yo Gabba Gabba or Animaniacs (though the endless white void moreso evokes the old Pink Panther cartoons). And it certainly doesn't help that the game is a slapstick comedy routine about increasingly elaborate Rube Goldberg machines where the Chuch-ster fails to beat out that little hedgehog thing for a yummy cherry. Or that half the interactivity in the game amounts to fart noises or anvils dropping on his head. But honestly, in spite of its sparseness, the game did grow on me.

I feel this tiny skit-based structure is surprisingly unique, allowing for a myriad of disparate ideas and off-beat character designs that may not eventually land in a more focused work. Chuchel also succeeds in establishing a player-driven comedic rhythm I had not personally encountered before, where you control the pacing of the bit, and the action follows your curiosity. It's goofy, a little demented, definitely not something to play with the sound on in public, but it's not half bad altogether.

Part of me wishes Plachy had grander designs for his directorial follow-up to Botanicula, but I still think Chuchel was worth pursuing, warts and all.