*Sources of screenshots are listed in their respective file-names.
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Looking at the Steam Store page for Puzzle Bots, I expected a relatively simplistic adventure game for small children. What I found was an extremely charming and accessible adventure title hearkening back to LucasArts classics like Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle…
Puzzle Bots revolves around a group of five robots who (when left unattended by their inventors) go on various adventures around Dr. Hugo’s Factory for Making Robots. The secrets they begin to uncover take the player through an entertaining three-hour mystery.
A screenshot of the game.
Each robot has unique special abilities. This makes puzzles not only a question of how but with who. For example, in the above situation, you would select Kelvin to burn the vines so Hero can pick up the object left behind…Figuring out how character’s skills are used and interact together in scenes such as the one below make for some delightful logic teasers.
Kelvin can burn the brush, which will allow Ibi to take the gum wrapper and plug one of the holes in the boat…
If you get stuck, you can access a very helpful hint system by pressing the “Hints” button in the bottom-left corner. Every time you press this button the robots will begin talking. Their conversations gradually progress from merely suggesting the next step of a solution to providing detailed instructions on how to complete a task. This allowed me to finish the game without ever referring to a walkthrough (a rare occurrence for an adventure game).
Across the games’ seventeen levels are scattered eight collectibles. These unlock concept art, voice-over bloopers and make the robots do a short, cute dance.
Ibi, Kelvin, Bombchelle and Hero dancing.
An infectious sense of humor defines the game, with all 5 robots (Hero, Ultrabot, Kelvin, Ibi and Bombchelle) and their quirky inventors providing tons of comic relief throughout. We see this in both the puzzle designs and some extremely funny dialogue.
Dr. Hugo: “And this is Alexander, our most photogenic inventor.“
Alexander (AKA Xander): “Hello!“
Xander: “Wait, what?“
Dr. Hugo: “Shh…just smile.“
Unfortunately, the game stumbles in two areas. A 3-hour running time means we don’t have enough time to care about all of the characters and some of the subplots. The final puzzle also represents such a steep increase in difficulty that it may be off-putting to younger gamers.
A section of the final puzzle, which required a leap of logic that I (personally) found difficult and confusing.
Conclusion:
Despite a short run-time and frustrating ending, for about a cup of coffee ($5 USD), Puzzle Bots gives you an extremely entertaining and humorous adventure that can be completed in a matter of hours.
Potential Concerns:
The game contains a romantic subplot, which culminates in Xander kissing two characters:
The robots themselves comment on one of these scenes:
Ultrabot: “Why are the humans’ faces stuck together?“
Kelvin: “Maybe they’re doing battle.“
Hero: “I think they actually like each other!“
Hero: “Yay, we did something right for once!“
Ultrabot: “If this is right, I don’t want to be right.“
Ultrabot (a male robot) is placed in a dress by a bratty girl in the game:
Ultrabot is the green robot in the attic.
It is suggested that one of the unintelligible noises made by Ibi is a curse word.
Buy Now! (PC)
Video Games and the Bible 