One of the more unique games that showed up at PAX South 2017 was point-and-click adventure game Gorogoa. The concept of the game is that you’re solving puzzles that exist in 4 tiles that can be slide around like blocks in a block-sliding puzzler. These tiles can also interact with each other. A couple of tricks in the PAX South demo included overlays that can be separated from the tile, and then placed on another one to change the interactions available. Tiles placed adjacent to one another also can interact with each other, such as creating shelves where one object can be changed to shift the positioning of an item on the shelf.
Gorogoa is utterly fascinating, and not just because there’s some clever puzzle ideas. The story is abstract involving a boy collecting mysterious items with religious significance, but also having to deal with a rough existence. It’s all up to interpretation. Religious symbolism and imagery from several different faiths plays a significant role in the story that gives it a unique atmosphere. This game was one of the most memorable experiences I had at PAX South in 2017, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on it in the future. Gorogoa is published by Annapurna Interactive, and is designed, developed, and illustrated by Jason Roberts. The game isn’t done yet, and the mobile adaptation is early in development, but is functional at this time. This should be particularly spectacular on iPad, with its high resolution visuals and the 4:3 aspect ratio enabling the square game to take up more space than most widescreen displays.
