Puzzle Puppers

With more ideas, more obstacles, more varied goals, or just the ability to pet the dogs without screwing up one of my solutions-in-progress, I could easily see this as best in show. Instead, Puzzle Puppers wouldn't even place.

Puzzle Puppers is a very simple game about some very cute dogs. Its bright colours and bizarre premise are endearing, the gameplay is easy to grasp, and you'll be in hound heaven for the first 20 stages or so. After a while however, this old dog shows that it hasn't learned any new tricks, and the repetitive visuals don't do anything to elevate the equally repetitive gameplay. It's good clean fun, straightforward to an absolute fault, and for the low asking price there's enough here to make this worthwhile. If you're expecting a magical doggy story mode, or some imaginative level design however, you'll be left feeling a little ruff.

It's not going to set the gaming world on fire, but Puzzle Puppers is a nice little game to work your grey matter on the Switch. It helps that its puppies are adorable.

Puzzle Puppers achieves what it sets out to do with aplomb. It’s an irreverent puzzler with animal-like charm which is fun to play for all ages and all skill levels, at all times. It functions as an intense workout for your brain or something to fill those short gaps between jobs. It does so whilst allowing you to play with dogs at the same time and, quite frankly, who wouldn’t want that?

Puzzle Puppers delivers a relaxing puzzle experience featuring cute puppies that stretch to their food bowls. It's a simple yet addictive premise, with both easy and more challenging levels to give you several hours of fun. Worth checking it!

Puzzle Puppers is a good, solid game that shouldn't take too much time to get value out of. It's one of those games that won't keep you busy for days on end, but is nice to pick up and play for some pretty clever brain teasers. It does good on providing a warm, loveable aesthetic while providing quick and easy gameplay.

If you’re not a puzzle fanatic you can work your way through without getting all of the hearts as you learn the ropes and then return later for the challenge of unlocking the bonus levels so you can see and complete everything. If you consider yourself a world-class puzzle fan see how many you can figure out within a few minutes with no help… somewhere along the way you’ll struggle, but that’s part of the fun. All said this is a title that’s friendly to your pocketbook, full of simple charm, and can probably be enjoyed by just about everyone.

The style is lacklustre, the sound design adds very little to the overall package and it all feels very bland. This is one of those games where, when it loads I found myself uttering ‘Oh’ out loud, because it failed to capture any part of me. Had there been some humorous narrative, a few jokes scattered throughout, maybe even just some puns, I might have enjoyed my time with Puzzle Puppers. As it stands, it’s completely forgettable, which is a massive shame considering the wealth of memes and jokes that exist and the fact that the actual puzzle design is decent.

Puzzle Puppers has some issues, but it isn't a bad game by any means. It's just not a particularly good one. Instead, it sits in the middle, seeming like a lot of game design choices that feel safe stacked on top of each other. It's hard to say what could make it stand out, because it's enjoyable for what it is. What it is, unfortunately, is a game that falters for one of the most bizarre reasons out there: it's just too safe.