Plucky Square answers the burning question, “What if? Alan Wake Wrote children’s story books instead of horror thrillers? This upcoming indie game is an interesting meta of classic action-adventure titles and the thrilling heroic tales that inspired them. We’ve played the first few hours of the game (PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X) and sampled many of its concepts — almost too many for its own good. Still, we’re excited to see the rest of the surprises in store when The Plucky Squire launches on September 17.
Plucky Square’s unique gameplay hook
Initially, The Plucky Square takes place in a literal storybook world. You control the protagonist Jot as a living figure who walks across the landscape painted on each page. Fortunately, the world is engrossed enough that this constant reminder of the game’s artificiality doesn’t deter your investment. With a mix of familiar fantasy archetypes and mild modern comedy (there’s a wizard named Moonbeard), the vibe feels similar. Adventure time.
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Soon, you will face what appears to be the main antagonist of the game and discover the true premise. Your nemesis has become self-aware, and rather than admit his predestined loss, the evil sorcerer uses bright green “metamagic” to pull Zat out of the storybook and into the realms beyond the page. Here the same is transferred from a depicted 2D imaginary world to a 3D one, toy story-esque real world.
This twist makes The Plucky Square even more visual as the brave little hero treks across a foreign land: a desk strewn with paper clips and dominoes. Inventive camera angles provide similar cramped pleasure Pikmin 4. James Turner, co-founder of the game’s developer All Possible Futures, previously handled character design on recent Pokemon titles, and that fine craftsmanship carries over here.
Was not compatible with the demo Steam DeckBut the game looked and ran beautifully on my gaming laptop. Minimum specs are an Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-4350 CPUGeForce GT 1030 or Radeon HD 7850 GPU8GB of RAM, and 25GB of storage.
Beyond the book, you get an extra glimpse into the life of the child reading the book, inspiring you to give them the happy ending they deserve. Finally, you send the alliance back to the book, equipped with the power to travel between worlds at will through special portals. With its story cards on the table, The Plucky Square’s gameplay takes full advantage of the meta concept.
New challenges and abilities
Plucky Squire’s greatest gameplay strength is its well-paced variety and willingness to consistently present you with a new goal. Each page is essentially a single-screen, self-contained challenge. As a result, you don’t know what to expect. That fantasy is supported by a solid foundation built on top-down action-adventure games such as 2D Legend of Zelda titles. Jot attacks enemies with a sword and can upgrade his abilities. Switching from a top-down view to a side-scrolling view recalls Link Awakening. In the real world, Jot’s 2D drawing form can cling to certain surfaces A link between worlds‘ Painting Mechanic.
Plucky Squares has its own exciting spin on puzzle-solving action. You will often find yourself in the area where the words on the page describe your surroundings. You must use those sentences to change reality and find a way forward. For example, you can drain a river or make a big bug smaller.
Sometimes, you must get out of the book, physically turn the pages back, and retrieve the answer on the previous page to find the word you need. Those great puzzle moments are the few times in the demo when the game feels like a cohesive adventure, a Zelda dungeon that wants you to remember the entire layout and not just a series of singular linear tasks. You can even bring real objects into the story, like dice to hit a switch.
Not every gameplay gimmick is that fun, though. While the variety is admirable, some aspects of the adventure feel more like filler that distracts from the meta puzzles, the game’s core appeal. These other mini-game-esque activities are much less consistent. A Punch Out!!-style boss is fun, but not a typical shooting gallery battle. I loved a sequence where you had to retrieve an elven bow from a trading card in the real world, but the forced stealth mission involving the escaping Beatles was painful.
Thanks to accessibility options, you can make the game as easy or difficult as you like. I just hope the latter half is more enjoyable and focuses on original ideas.
Why you should play on a PC
Early Verdict: Plucky Square is a real page-turner
From the opening hours, The Plucky Square takes a big swing. And it hits them more than enough that we’re eager to see more. Its creativity shines when it explores the possibilities of a storybook adventure that eludes our reality. We just hope the final game will take the challenges further.
Plucky Squire launches on September 17 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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TBA at steam
The Plucky Square is a postmodern riff on classic action-adventure filled with intriguing ideas and puzzles that require you to bend reality within its storybook world.
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