Crayon Poke

Sometimes, cute platformers can keep you occupied for hours on end and provide you with quite the challenge, even if they do not feature state-of-the-art physics engines and the latest DirectX technology. Hence, with enough creativity and good ideas, even 2D sidescrollers can enjoy critical acclaim and sell millions of copies all over the world.

Crayon Poke is a casual platformer in which you get to play with a little girl who seems to be on an adventure somewhere, although the location is somewhat strange and nothing really makes too much sense. There’s not much of a story either, given the fact that you are thrown in the middle of the action right from the beginning, and you are not given any kind of explanation.

Although the first few minutes feel and play a lot like any other platformer, in the sense that all you do is run and jump from ledge to ledge, things get a bit more original and exciting after a while. As such, the little girl can collect crayons along the way and use them in a variety of creative ways, like to defeat enemies and stick them into walls to create artificial ladders, which can then be climbed.

One of the enemies present in the game is the pig, which has the potential to kill you with one hit if it gets close enough. However, it also has a variety of uses for you as well, because you can jump on top of it and get a boost to reach higher platforms, or even trick it by having it charge into a wall and clearing a path for you. Naturally, you need to be careful doing so, otherwise you risk dying.

Even if you die, on the other hand, you respawn at the last checkpoint, as long as you remembered to save when you passed by it. Hence, everything about the game is about as simple and casual as possible, which includes the visual quality as well. The 2D engine looks marvelous and you can tell that the designers put a bit of work into it, given the nice animations and the detailed characters.

When it’s all said and done, Crayon Poke has quite a few nice ideas to work with and it can keep you entertained for a while if you have patience. However, its simplicity might turn some gamers off, mainly because it’s not very long and not that difficult either.