Draknek and Friends Puzzle Bundle
Genre: Compilation / Puzzle
Players: 1
.
Review:
(Note: While this bundle is no longer available, its contents are included in Draknek & Friends Puzzle Bundle (5 Games), along with Bonfire Peaks… a bundle that is also no longer available. Neither is Draknek & Friends Puzzle Bundle (6 Games) which contained all of the games listed here, as well as Bonfire Peaks and Patrick’s Parabox. For a bundle that’s actually available as of this writing, you’re looking for Draknek and Friends Puzzle Bundle (2024), which contains all of the above named games plus Sokobond Express)
Draknek and Friends Puzzle Bundle is a Compilation of four Puzzle games all published by Draknek and Friends. These games were all released on Nintendo Switch in 2021, but all released previously on PC and/or mobile devices from 2013 through 2020.
Here is what I thought about the games in this collection:
| Game | Genre | # of Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sokobond | Puzzle | 1 | B |
tl;drSokobond is a family-friendly Puzzle Game where players push around blocks representing atomic elements with the goal of joining them all together to form a molecule. Don’t worry if your science is rusty, the gameplay here is simple and easy to pick up, but Sokobond does clever things with that simple and elegant concept. It’s nothing revolutionary, and the presentation is in no way impressive, but this game is nevertheless a superb Puzzle Game that fans of the genre should absolutely play. | |||
| A Good Snowman is Hard to Build | Puzzle | 1 | B- |
tl;drA Good Snowman is a family-friendly Puzzle Game where players push snowballs to create snowmen. The presentation here is simple but charming, and the puzzles are well-designed, but the game is lacking on the content side of things. Still, this game is fun while it lasts, and if its concept appeals to you, you may find it worth giving a try. | |||
| Cosmic Express | Puzzle | 1 | B+ |
tl;drCosmic Express is a family-friendly Puzzle Game where players create train routes in various space colonies to deliver aliens to their homes. The gameplay here is simple but well-crafted, with some really clever puzzle design. There’s also a good amount of content here, some good variety, and an adorable presentation. If you enjoy Puzzle games, this is definitely one you’ll want to get. | |||
| A Monster’s Expedition | Puzzle | 1 | B+ |
tl;drA Monster’s Expedition is a family-friendly Puzzle Game where players take the role of a cuddly monster exploring an outdoor museum of humanity. The puzzle design is good and becomes more involved over time, the presentation is lovely with particularly good sound design, and the clever satire caused by monsters trying to understand humanity is excellent. The game can feel a bit repetitive at times, and it’s not always clear where you can and can’t reach just yet, but overall this is a superb Puzzle Game well worth playing. | |||
In short, pretty much everything in this package is good and worth playing. A Good Snowman got my lowest grade, but that was largely due to how short it is. Meanwhile, Cosmic Express and A Monster’s Expedition are probably the highlights here, for different reasons – Cosmic Express has absolutely superb puzzle design and pacing, and A Monster’s Expedition has very nice sound design and funny satire on top of being a well-crafted and surprisingly long Puzzle game. And since I mentioned everything else in this paragraph, I’ll add that Sokobond is also an excellent Puzzle game, although it’s visually the least-impressive of the bunch.
There’s decent variety here – three out of the four games are block-pushing style puzzles, but all of these games approach their puzzles in different ways. All of the games here also feature good optional touchscreen controls in the Nintendo Switch version, though the traditional gamepad controls work just fine.
So at this point it comes down to a question of value. Draknek and Friends Puzzle Bundle sells for $42.50, which is a discount of $7.50 off the price these games would cost separately – that’s not a huge savings, but it’s not bad, either. While I would argue that A Good Snowman was overpriced at $10, you could look at it like this bundle essentially corrects that error, making it more or less like you got that game for $2.50 after buying the others.
Since all four games in this bundle are solid puzzle experiences well worth playing, I would argue that this makes Draknek and Friends Puzzle Bundle an excellent Compilation for Puzzle Game fans. If you’re looking to fill out your Nintendo Switch collection with excellent games in the genre, this is a great choice.
tl;dr – Draknek and Friends Puzzle Bundle is a Compilation of four solid family-friendly Puzzle games – three of them are different takes on the “block pushing puzzle”, and one that has you creating train routes. The savings over buying the games separately is moderate, but well worth it as there aren’t any stinkers here. This package is a good choice for Puzzle Game fans.
Grade: B+
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