Grab Open Kill

Ok, I admit that when I was going to review GOK (Grab, Open, Kill)... I did not know what I could expect. I mean this game was made for the Secret Santa 2020 event (From Calunio to Waka) so it could have been something really personal with no gameplay that only the recipient could cappreciate... instead no, this is a game (starring some characters by Waka) with an interesting concept.
But let's start with the story:

Arma the Chonky Rat is expecting a gift from Santa, but he'll give it only after Arma will complete eight levels where our rat has to a certain number of rings to leave the area. Unfortunately there are locked doors, and even if Arma can grab the keys, only with the help of Breeze the Birb Boyo will be possible to open them! Ok, so we had one character that grabs, one that opens, then what's left? Kill, of course! The levels are labyrinths infested by the deadly orcs with chicken legs (!) but if these monsters can hurt the two friends, Sanaa the Angery Hyena instead can kill them...
... temporarily!
The three have also different speed: Arma may be chonky but he's the fastest (and maybe, if you are quick you can dodge enemies, that are slower), Sanaa has a normal speed, and Breeze is the slowest of the three, but remember the invulnerability of the characters you do not control!


Sanaa is going to kick some asses! Those chicken legs orcs will be the victims...

If you played some old games like "The Lost Vikings", you can probably expect how the game works: you have to switch between the three friends to collaborate, since there is a total of five lives but these are shared among the three friends. In later levels there are also keys of different colors, so you have to plan carefully your strategy, and note that when you do not control a character he is totally invulnerable, BUT it acts as an occupied square (so he can block a path for both enemies and friends!).

Ok there are only eight levels but the difficulty will rise rapidly, last two are quite difficult if you do not plan carefully and learn to exploit some particular strategied that I learned playing the game. At first especially last level seemed impossible, but I was able to win (even with just one life left!).
Oh remember to pay attention because you can collect lives just walking on them, and this means that if you are at full life you can accidentally waste that life accidentally stepping on it! Yep, it will be lost forever!

But don't worry since all lives are restored whenever you pass a level, just before saving. This game's difficulty is well balanced and I guess that most players won't have any trouble completing it... still, last parts as I said before, needs some clever exploits! (Remember that F12 send you to the main menu and this is useful since in then last two levels if you are careless you may be stuck)

Graphically the game is simple but colorful and cute. I also liked a lot the music, especially the last level one.


We did it! YEAH WE DID IT! Now time to read the...

... Final Verdict!
GOK is a little cute gem, a sall puzzle game that really entertains for about an hour (or maybe more if you are bad at it!). It start easy but becomes rapidly a challenging, even if it is not too hard, still it provides a good challenge for everyone, I guess. The simple story and cute graphics well complement the rest of the game, and I admit I was impressed about all this was made in Rm2k3 and still works, despite that is clearly not an engine made for action puzzle games at all! The mechanics are interesting and I don't have anything to complain or note, except that I just casually found a minor issue that can be exploited.
Read at your own peril!


Ok? Otherwise everything went smoothly, I also loved the cute characters, but this is probably Waka's merit! Anyway, good game, and excellent secret santa gift! 4/5, fun to play!