Molecano

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Molecano, released on Nintendo Switch in 2023, is a family-friendly Puzzle game where players help guide a mole to food suspended in mid-air over lava by using a bunch of letters to make words that serve as walkways for the mole to use. No, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but just go with it.

The gameplay in Molecano plays a lot like those “Word Link” games you see on mobile devices – you’re given six letters, and must string together combinations of those letters to form words. The difference here is that you’re not just creating whatever words you can think of, you actually have to be thoughtful about how long the word is and how its letters will link up with the other words on the board, a bit like in Scrabble. The result is a Puzzle game that’s simple, but still has enough depth to be satisfying.

The presentation here is fairly simple, using flat, colorful 2D visuals backed by a relaxed soundtrack that works very well for the game, giving the game an overall welcoming and laid-back vibe.

I really only have two complaints about this game, though they are significant. First, this game gets pretty repetitive before long, and although it does introduce a twist a short while into the game in the form of locked blocks that you can’t pass without creating a path through a key first… this isn’t enough to shake the overall sameyness of the game.

My other issue here is that at $8, this game feels a bit pricey for what’s on offer, being such a simple and repetitive game with a basic, if appealing, presentation. At the very least it does appear to be the case that this is one of those games that goes on sale for $2, but that doesn’t change the fact that the standard price seems bloated.

Despite these issues, Molecano is a decent word-based Puzzle game that’s easy to play, pretty enjoyable, and has a nice relaxed presentation. It’s too simple and repetitive for its $8 price tag, but if you’re looking to add a puzzle game to your collection, this may be worth picking up, especially if it’s on sale.

tl;dr – Molecano is a family-friendly Puzzle game where players build paths by piecing together letters into words. This is a solid take on a well-worn mobile-style Puzzle formula that adds a fun new element to the gameplay. It’s still a bit too simple and repetitive, and the $8 price tag seems too high, but this game is still worth picking up, especially if you can get it on sale.

Grade: B-

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