PHOGS! review | Xbox One X

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Sometimes you need a video game to inject some joy into your life, and that applies especially in 2020. Enter PHOGS!, the charming puzzle game about exploring with a double-headed dog in search of bone-shaped treats.

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by James Michael Parry

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​@james_parry

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Developer: Coatsink and Bit Loom Games
Publisher: Coatsink
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox X|S, PS4, PS5, PC, Switch
Players: 1-2

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The game at first glance seems simplistic, but behind it's bright colours and basic control scheme lies a delightful, engaging experience for all ages. Beyond colour, the aesthetic has a cartoonish, almost cel-shaded style. Its early, food-orientated levels channel greats like Overcooked and Mario Odyssey’s Luncheon Kingdom, before transitioning to a more subdued presentation for the nighttime stages.

Exploring with the PHOGS themselves is fairly linear. While you’ll need to keep an eye out to find all of the collectable bones in each level, tackling each challenge required to move on to the next area is straightforward. Visual tells seamlessly teach you how to complete the various tasks, plus there’s some fun environmental storytelling, making the experience particularly accessible to younger or first-time players.

There’s an emphasis on savoring the experience here too; there are no time limits, no scores and no real penalty for falling off the edge of a level, which keeps stress and frustration to a minimum. There’s a unique approach to the control scheme as well, as you’re asked whether you want to use one or two controllers to play. In the case of the former, buttons are separated in such a way that you can play quite happily after some initial adjustment.

Though PHOGS! isn’t too demanding overall, there’s still an element of challenge to achieving 100% completion on each level. That said, you aren’t overwhelmed by a huge number of collectables - instead, finding them will require observation and persistence to track down. Testing the physics is also intuitive, with only the odd moment where you’re thrown around unexpectedly.

​Your reward for scouring the levels is the ability to spend your bones on a modest variety of hats. Unfortunately, even unlocking everything leaves plenty of bones leftover, and the hats themselves often look better in the customisation room than they do in the flesh. With customisation at the forefront in titles like Fall Guys and the Worms series, this inclusion feels a little under-developed, but nonetheless welcome in the absence of microtransactions.

PHOGS! is easy to pick up and play and the gradual introduction of different challenges and mechanics is steady, drawing you in and having you eager to lap up just one more level.

The PHOGS (a merging of the words physics and dogs, as seen within the gameplay) exude character as you move them around. If you lazily control a single head at a time, for example, you’ll see the trailing head quickly drop off to sleep. That same level of characterisation extends to the NPCs as well, with our particular favourite being an octopus chef who's increasingly pleased with how his mountaintop soup is turning out, thanks to your help.

​The game’s music has enthusiasm and beaming positivity to match, but at times relies too heavily on a short, repeated phrase that can start to grate. Fortunately each level has a new tune, meaning such earworms are fairly short-lived.

PHOGS! is an experience we’ve been hearing about for a long time, and it's a pleasure to finally have our paws on it. The sheer delight at successfully getting Red and Blue to the friendly patchwork-style snake which safeguards the end of each level can’t be overstated. It’s easy to pick up and play and the gradual introduction of different challenges and mechanics is steady, drawing you in and having you eager to lap up just one more level.

​Coming into the festive season, a family PHOGS! session sounds far more appealing than a six-hour argument over Monopoly. It’s also just as fun to watch as it is to play, for any technologically-opposed family members. Coatsink and Bit Loom Games have taken a simple concept and really nailed it. If you’re in the mood for some gaming joy this Christmas, PHOGS! undoubtedly fits the bill.

​Pros

• Adorable artstyle and characterisation
• Accessible to all ages and skill levels
• Hard to resist grabbing all of the collectibles 

Cons
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• Music can grate at times
• Customisation options are underwhelming
• Controls can occasionally feel a little floaty and imprecise

9/10