Gabbuchi is a 2-D puzzle platformer, and the main character, a box with teeth, reminds me of a cross between Domo and BoxBoy.  The game itself kind of reminds me of BoxBoy as well.  It utilizes minimalist graphics as you eat as many boxes as you can, but not TOO many as you must still have a path to the goal.  So it’s kind of a reverse BoxBoy.  Gabbuchi is available to download on PS4, Switch, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Your main character can move left, right, and jump a few blocks high.  Whenever he touches a block, he’ll automatically eat it.  There are two kinds of blocks in the game: white ones and red ones.  Gabbuchi can only eat blocks the same color as him, but you can press the R button to switch his color from white to red.  Careful switching of colors is necessary as many times you must use blocks to stand on that are a different color than you.  To finish a level, you must eat the heart shaped cookie somewhere in the stage.

Speaking of cookies, there are also other cookies you can eat in the stages, but they’re harder to reach and just help boost your score.  When you beat a level, there are a couple of optional objectives to beat.  Like switching colors the fewest amount of times or eating enough to satisfy Gabbuchi.  You can see how full he is by the hearts on the left corner of the screen.  In order to make him full, you’ll have to eat as many blocks as you can and still beat the stage.  It’s tough, but luckily you can just eat the heart cookie to go onto the next level.  Pass a certain number of levels to unlock the next world.  Future worlds add obstacles like enemies that can kill Gabbuchi if they touch him, and keys you must nab to open passageways.

Gabbuchi is a neat puzzler platformer, but it does have a few problems.  The game gets pretty hard quickly, and a hint option would’ve been nice.  Although you can skip a level if it stumps you after a while.  The music is catchy as heck, but I wish there was more than one tune.  There is also a neat (and very easy to use) stage builder mode, but I couldn’t find any way to upload my levels or download others, which seems like a huge oversight considering how popular Mario Maker 2 is right now.  It’s a shame, too, as I made a pretty nifty Pac-Man level.  But other than that, this is a rather fun, yet challenging, puzzle platformer.  It’s reasonably priced, too!

Kid Factor:

If you fall off the stage or get hit by an enemy, Gabbuchi just disappears and turns into an angel, but that’s about as violent as it gets.  Reading skill is helpful for the text instructions, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may find it a bit too difficult, though.  Gabbuchi is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews