~Kahoots is a weird, weird game in all the right ways. Beneath its pink and pastel color scheme, singing tour guide, and cute enemies called Cardborgs is a nifty little puzzler that's sure to cook your frontal lobe and leave you with an aching head.
~Better still: it's like Echochrome on an acid trip.
~A 2D title, Kahoots has the mouse dude (called a Kahoot) walking from one side of the screen to the other on platforms made up of individual blocks. Your job is to get the Kahoot to the level exit. If you have your little buddy leap off into the great unknown – any empty space on the screen with no platform underneath -- the Kahoot will fall from the sky until it makes contact with a platform again. This is also true if you walk off the side of the screen.
~You move the on-screen cursor and swap these blocks with any of the other blocks it's touching. Now, swapping in plain blocks would be pretty worthless, so you need to move in blocks that fling your Kahoot over obstacles, get deadly spikes out of the way, offer trap doors that drop the little man down below, and so on. You need to move these blocks so that you're not only getting the Kahoot to the door, but also pushing the Kahoot-eating Cardborgs out of the picture.
~This block-movin' craziness is spread across 50 levels and the challenges only get tougher as the levels go on. You need to maneuver Cardborgs into the right spots so that they can eat the cardboard boxes that act as an impenetrable wall for your little character while making sure the Kahoot never runs into the deadly creature or life-ending spikes. When you move a box, time freezes, but you can also freeze time to scope things out with the left shoulder button or fast-forward with the right shoulder button when you just need to get the Kahoot wherever it is he's going. Add in the fact that there's an optional cupcake in every level that you'll need to go out of your way to collect to unlock Kahoots' in-game awards, and you've got a lot to manage.
~Kahoots biggest strength is its individuality. When a new piece of the game is introduced, a hackysack/clothespin creature named Pegbeast pops up to sing instructions to you. If you choose to skip the musical tutorial by clicking "Shut Up, Pegbeast," the creature apologizes in an adorable British accent. When you beat a level, a multicolor ticker tape parade is set off as the Kahoot cheers in a high-pitched voice. If you die in a level, the game freezes, circles your character in red, and writes "fail" next to the dead Kahoot. It's quirky, and it's welcome.
~My only real problem with Kahoots is that I didn't really feel compelled to go on when I'd get stuck. I'd run into a stumper or just get frustrated because of my own stupidity, and feel no real reason to keep going. There's no high score or timetable to chase, most of the awards are just doing something a certain number of times, and the unlockable photos of clay Kahoots in the real world are goofy but not enthralling. Personally, I need a carrot and a stick to pour over puzzles in games like this. Kahoots doesn't have that driving force.
~Smaller issues, to me at least, include that the initial load is a bit long; the $4.49 price tag seems a bit steep for what you're getting; and all of the levels are unlocked for you to tackle in any order you like, but navigating the map is a bit of a pain as it's not super-clear as to which level you're highlighting.
Closing Comments
~Kahoots is a very fun puzzler game, but it is rather annoying sometimes. Obviously, this game is not for everyone, but people who enjoy good puzzle games would probably enjoy this one. One of the few things that could have been improved is the price. For $4.49, this game is an OK buy, but would have been a lot better with a lower price.
Total Score: 7/10
Would I suggest it to someone? Only if they liked puzzlers, otherwise, no.
