Mekorama

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Mekorama is a character-based Puzzle game released on mobile devices in 2016, and ported to PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2020. This game has players guiding a robot through diorama-like levels to reach a red button that marks the exit.

The presentation here is simple but appealing, with the game’s 3D levels constructed largely out of cubes suspended in a featureless void. The look of this game seems very reminiscent of Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker, albeit more simple. This is backed by a nice relaxed soundtrack that works well for the more slow-paced and thoughtful nature of the game.

The gameplay here has players directing the robot through this game’s levels in three directions, manipulating platforms to assist it in getting to its destination. This game was clearly designed with the touchscreen in mind, and that is definitely the preferred way to play this game, as you interact with objects directly, tap spots you want the robot to move to, even scroll the screen or zoom using the same controls you would use on a smartphone touchscreen.

For those playing the game in docked mode, you can replicate these controls somewhat using an on-screen cursor, though this is clearly a sloppy workaround to make the game playable without a touchscreen, and it’s not ideal.

Apart from this issue with the controls, this is otherwise a pretty solid Puzzle game, if somewhat simple and slow-paced. There’s some clever puzzle design here, and for only $5, the game’s included 100 levels seems like a pretty good value. What’s more, there’s also a level builder here to enable players to custom-build their own levels, though sadly there does not appear to be any way to share them, something that seems like a huge oversight.

Still, for an inexpensive Puzzle game, Mekorama is a nice surprise. The presentation is pleasant, the gameplay is simple and accessible but still enjoyable, and there’s a good amount of content. I definitely feel like the control issues, slow pacing, and lack of ability to share custom levels all add up to a game that doesn’t come close to meeting its full potential, but it is well worth playing despite these flaws.

tl;dr – Mekorama is a character-based Puzzle game where players guide a robot to a button in diorama-like levels. The simple presentation is nice, the levels feature good puzzle design, and there’s a good amount of content here for the game’s low $5 price. It’s just a shame that the gamepad controls aren’t anywhere near as good as the touchscreen controls, and the included level builder offers no way to share content. However, for what it is, this is well worth getting for anyone looking for an inexpensive Puzzle game to add to their collection.

Grade: B

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