Hole io & Candivity

Genre: Compilation

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local Split-Screen), 2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

(Note: Hole io, included in this bundle, is also included in Hole io & Paper io 2 bundle, along with Paper io 2.)

Hole io & Candivity is a Compilation containing the two named games, released separately on Nintendo Switch in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

I have separately reviewed these games. Here is what I thought of each of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Candivity	Puzzle	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	D
tl;dr Candivity is a family-friendly physics-based Puzzle game where players drop sweet treats into the play field hoping to get sweets of the same kind to touch each other, combining into bigger sweets. This game is clearly copying Suika Game’s formula, and while it tries adding things to the formula, just about everything this game does fails in its execution. You’re better off just going with the original Suika Game, or one of countless other clones.
Hole io	Arcade	1-4 Competitive (Local Split-Screen)	B-
tl;dr Hole io is a family-friendly Arcade-style game where players move a hole around to swallow up objects to grow its size, aiming to get it as big as possible. The core gameplay is pulled straight out of the game Donut County, and there are countless poor design choices and gameplay flaws here. Yet despite all of that, it’s hard to deny how fun and compelling this game is, and for only $5, this is a superb time-waster.

In short… wow, this is a really unbalanced bundle. Hole io, while simple and a bit derivative of the game Donut County, nonetheless remains pretty enjoyable and unique enough to set it apart from its inspiration. Candivity, on the other hand, is not only a clear knockoff of Suika Game, but it’s a bad knockoff at that. As a result, between the two games, Hole io is the only one I can really recommend.

Still, there remains the question of whether this bundle is a good enough value to justify a purchase for that reason. And the answer to that is… well, I suppose so. Hole io’s normal price of $5 and Candivity’s $3, compared to this bundle’s $7 price mean that this bundle is only shaving $1 off the combined price of the two games, but when looking at sale prices, this bundle’s sale price under $3 puts this underneath the combined $4 it costs to get the pair of games separately on sale. The problem is that for the same price as this bundle, you could be getting Hole io & Paper io 2, which pairs a much better game with Hole io.

With this being the case, is it still worth it to get Hole io & Candivity? Personally, I don’t think so. While this bundle is indeed a decent deal on the two included games, only one of those games is worth getting, and it’s already in another much better bundle at the same price. If you want it, I suggest you get that bundle instead.

tl;dr – Hole io & Candivity is a Compilation containing the surprisingly fun Arcade-style game Hole io, and the pretty terrible Suika Game knockoff, Candivity. While this bundle is a decent deal on the pair, Hole io is already in a much better bundle with Paper io 2 at the same price. I highly recommend you get that instead.

Grade: C-

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