Kiddos Puzzcade 1.1

The story of this game is that 4 kids are lost in the woods and they wander into a strange place in which they need to solve some puzzles to look for help. You control all 4 kids on each map, and you switch between them with the Cancel button. The character switching mechanic was done quite well, especially in an older engine. Each kid has their own specific abilities. One can push heavy rocks, one can blow up certain boulders, one can jump high to reach buttons, and one has a cellphone to see in the dark.

There's 8 levels in total, and he first 4 levels basically introduce you to each of the kid's abilities, while the last 4 usually requires you to combine all 4 in some way to pass the level. The first 2 kids who interact with boulders tend to do most of the work to clear the path, while the jumping kid is used occasionally to finish up by hitting a button. In the later levels where it gets dark, the cellphone kid will be your eyes to see what you actually need to do with the others. Sometimes, you will need a party member to stand on a floor button to keep a path open, but you need to choose carefully because you may need that person to do something else later, so there is some thought required here.

Most of the levels were pretty simple, but it does require some thought and proper maneuvering. I did enjoy playing the game, but I felt that there wasn't really that much thoughtful puzzle solving required. Most of it was really just the busywork of switching between the 4 kids, while what you needed to do was pretty obvious most of the time. I think I liked the "red gems" level the most, because it felt like there were 2 phases to the level, and required some cooperation to move a certain boulder. The level with the 7 torches was my least favorite, because it's not clear at first whether you're trying to get all torches on or off, and also it requires some trial and error. The last level was an interesting change of pace, because you need to act fast, which I found kinda fun. I ended up having to do the last 2 kids in total darkness, but they were pretty close to the end, so I was able to manage it.

Overall, this was pretty enjoyable game to play, even though it was pretty short. I wished it had been longer, with more levels that had more interesting puzzles to use all 4 kids. It was a well made and fun game to play, and it keeps track of your overall playtime too, so you can try to beat your own record if you feel up to it.

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