When we broke the news about Phogs a few weeks ago, I didn’t quite know how to start describing Coatink’s latest offering. Due out in 2019, Phogs is a brilliant offbeat puzzler that drags players into a surreal series of worlds that only a dog could really understand.
Phogs is the latest title to come out of indie publisher Coatsink, and developed by the team at Bit Loom Games. It will take players on an adventure through three worlds of doggy delight when it arrives on multiple platforms. Players who got past the Phogs guard dog at Rezzed 2018 had the chance to go hands-on with a selection of levels from the upcoming game. Thankfully I sacrificed a good sized Gamespace reporter and streamer, KaeyiDream, for a few minutes with this delightful new title.
Sitting down in front of Phogs, it is abundantly clear that this game is almost as zealous as a hyperactive spaniel. The game’s double-headed dog takes clear inspiration from 1990’s Nickelodeon CatDog cartoon with other obvious nods to Adventure Time and Hohokum. Each of the isolated island environments that make up Phogs puzzles are reminiscent of Super Mario 3D World and come rendered in bold pastel shades that reflect a sort of innocent enthusiasm that is perfect for this puzzler. Themes of eat, sleep and play are prominent throughout, and my EGX experience took me on a trip through lush gardens, full of oversized flowers, to a slumber world surrounded by upholstered walls and fluffy pillows.
It is an utterly charming aesthetic that will undoubtedly charm you and your friends. Thankfully you can bring at least one with you on this journey. While players can take the Phogs on walkies alone, the co-operative mode allows a team to take a Phog head each. As I began to wriggle across the grassland of the demo level, it became obvious that this is really a game about working together. Controls are relatively easy to understand, and a little like Genital Jousting, with analog controls sending your own Phog head in any particular direction. Phogs are also able to interact with environmental objects using a single button push, with each end contracting and expanding away from each other as necessary. It’s a deceptively simple approach that relies on players understanding each other to succeed, or not. A variety of players will get a different type of enjoyment from this game. Antagonists will love trailing off on their own adventure, while I tend to enjoy the extra insight that another player provides.
Puzzles are generally an environmental and only take minutes to overcome. Phogs will drag themselves across gaps by grabbing protrusions on a wall or open doors by simultaneously pressing buttons. It is not a particularly taxing set of obstacles, but there is generally more than one way to overcome each of these. While crawling through the final moments of my EGX experience, I found it was far more efficient to use a gust of wind to vault over most of the upcoming obstacles, rather than play fetch with a series of objects. Phogs also includes a few ingenious moments. Latching one end of a two-headed dog onto a fire hydrant answered some very quiet questions, as water began spewing out the other end of my Phog. It proves to be a slightly odd, yet mechanically significant, moment that allowed me and my partner to progress across a chasm and onto the end of a level.
In the end, it’s those little moments of delight that developer, Bit Loom Games, are aiming for. Phogs is not a masterclass in puzzles, but a fantastic cooperative experience. Whether you play well as part of a pack or tend to be more of a troll, this title’s adorable personality will have you hooked.
