Pengo was one of my favorite arcade games and was one of the few that could pull me away from Pac-Man.  So I’m drawn to any type of game starring a block pushing penguin.  SokoPenguin is more of a puzzle game where you must push blocks around to make a path so a little penguin can reach its igloo house.  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Controls are simple.  Use the control stick or D-pad to move up, down, left, and right.  When you are next to a wooden box, you can push it.  You can push multiple boxes at once, too.  Sometimes you simply have to make a path to your igloo, but other times you must push a battery block to a certain spot to power a bridge so you can get to your home.  In later levels you’ll have to use bombs to blow up rocks and ice to slide blocks along until they hit something.  You can also push the boxes into water or spike blocks to get rid of them, which is handy.  After every ten levels, you can unlock a hat for your penguin to wear, and there are 100 levels in all.

I really liked the retro graphics and calming music, and the puzzles are challenging but still doable.  I only wish you could undo moves one at a time instead of having to start the level completely over, and a hint option would’ve been nice.  But otherwise this is a pretty good little puzzler.

Kid Factor:

Nothing too violent or objectionable here.  Your penguin can fall into water and get hit by spikes and bombs, but it just does a little wiggle animation and you can then start the level over.  Reading skill isn’t needed, but younger gamers may need help with the tougher puzzles.  But the game could be considered somewhat educational as it teaches logic and thinking skills.  SokoPenguin is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews