Pocoyo is a children’s TV show co-developed by Spanish and British producers.  It kind of reminds me of those old British clay animated kids programs from the 70’s and 80’s, which were also parodied by shows like Saturday Night Live’s Mr. Bill or Aardman’s Pib and Pob.  Anyway, Pocoyo stars a four year old boy and his animal friends, like a duck and elephant, as they play games and learn lessons.  Even though it’s computer animated, it still has that Claymation feel to it.  In the US, the show was on Nick Jr. for a while, but hasn’t been on in a long time.  But I think the show has found new life on YouTube.  Anyway, now there is a multiplayer video game for very young players starring Pocoyo.  In Pocoyo Party, Pocoyo is making invitations for his friends to come to a get-together.  Angry Alien flies by and doesn’t see an invitation for him (Pocoyo just hasn’t drawn it yet).  But Angry Alien gets, well, angry and steals all the invitations.  Now it’s up to Pocoyo and friends to play mini-games to get them back.  Pocoyo Party is available for Switch and PS4, but reviewed on Switch here.

All the mini-games on the Switch use motion controls, and have varying levels of difficulty, although I didn’t notice much difference between them.  The games can be played with two to four players, too.  When you complete a level, you’ll earn a sticker for your album.  When you finish all levels of a game, you’ll unlock a jigsaw puzzle and an episode of the TV show to watch in Extras, and you’ll get an invitation.  Do this for all the games to start the party with all of Pocoyo’s friends, including the alien.  Here are the mini-games you can play.

Dance

You must tilt the JoyCon in the direction given as it scrolls by.  You get plenty of time to do this so you don’t have to do it in rhythm.  Although sometimes the game doesn’t seem to read the motion controls very well.  This will be a common theme with the games.  Two players can go at it in this one.  Your goal is to reach five stars by the end of the song, but even if you don’t, you’ll still be able to move on to the next level.

Racing

Pocoyo and friends race on giant flying bugs.  It’s really more like a slot car in that you can only accelerate and not control where you go.  You must brake at certain points or you’ll spin out.  There really isn’t any rhyme or reason to who wins, though.  But even if you lose, you’ll still unlock the next level and goodies.

Blocks

Tilt the JoyCon down to pick the correct shaped blocks to build a tower.  Then tilt the JoyCon left to use a giant robot to knock down the tower and sweep the blocks away.

Window Washing

Paint has splatted on the windows of Pocoyo’s house, and you must help him wash them.  Pocoyo’s hand automatically moves left and right, and you must tilt the JoyCon up and down to direct his hand to the paint to wash it away.  You must do this in a given amount of time to finish.  Two players can work together, too.

Photos

Pocoyo and his friends will run past the screen, and you must press the button to snap photos of them.  You get more stars if they are in the center, but you still progress either way.  Two players can do this, too.

Fishing

Tilt the JoyCon to cast the line, and then when the bobber goes down (or you just watch the timer), tilt it again to reel it in and see what you’ve caught.  Motion controls aren’t always responsive.  Two players can fish here.

Extras

Here is where you view the stickers you’ve unlocked.  You can also solve jigsaw puzzles, but it just amounts to pushing the button enough times.  You can also watch actual episodes of Pocoyo here, and that’s the best part of the game as it provides over an hour of entertainment once you unlock them all!

And that’s all the games!  Aside from the bad motion controls, the game has other problems, too.  You have to finish 6 to 8 levels for each game, and I think younger kids might get impatient or bored with that.  You have to take the JoyCons out to play, which makes it hard in handheld mode.  Plus the order of the TV episodes you can watch don’t match up to the list you choose from.  But even though the game has some problems, I still think non-gamer parents and young kids would still enjoy playing this together.  It’s still pretty decent for what it is, and the graphics match the show very well.

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here.  If your kids are old enough to enjoy the show, they’ll be OK with the game.  Even though it’s very forgiving, I still think younger gamers might get a little frustrated at the bad motion controls.  Some of the games have an inkling of shape, letter, number, and color recognition, so it could be considered slightly educational as well.  Reading skill is kind of helpful for some of the menus, but not necessary just to play.  Pocoyo Party is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews, Television