Corgi Cove Review

Game: Corgi Cove
Genre: Strategy, Puzzle, Indie
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer|Publisher: Recall Software
Controller Support: Full
Price: UK £5.89| EU € 6,89 | US $6.99
Release Date: February 14th, 2023

Review code provided with many thanks to Recall Software.

Corgi Cove is a little puzzle game by Recall Software. This funny little game features a corgi named Gizmo that gets separated from his owner and is looking to find his way back to her. But first, he’ll need to solve a whole lot of puzzles.

The main character corgi named Gizmo is flying along in a plane with his owner in Corgi Cove. — At the story’s beginning, our main character Gizmo is riding in a plane’s sidecar.

The Story and Gameplay of Corgi Cove

Corgi Cove begins with little Gizmo riding the aeroplane equivalent of a side card with his human. A swarm of robots come out of nowhere and shoots at the pair, separating Gizmo’s side of the plane from his human. He crashes on a beach and starts immediately looking for a way to contact his best friend.

Some robots are shooting at Gizmo and owner's plane. — During the opening cutscene, Gizmo’s plane is attacked by robots, and his little sidecar gets separated from the plane.

He comes across a robot in a ruined building, and the robot volunteers to help him find his human if he can first solve several levels of the puzzle. These puzzles involve Gizmo needing to stand on squares, clone himself, and move around the space to press all the buttons. The puzzles are deceptively simple; when one of the cloned corgis moves, all of them must move the same number of spaces.

Two Corgis and they both have to move the same way.

Interact with the Robot NPC

In the hubs of each level, players can walk around as Gizmo, interacting with the robot NPC and collecting bones from puzzle levels. Depending on the number of moves it takes players to complete the level, they will get between one and three bones; once enough of these are collected, the corgi can move to the next level in the building and closer to the communication unit. If players want even more bones, they can replay old levels and attempt to do them in even fewer moves to try and get that third bone.

A black screen with "Good Doggie" and one bone. — When a puzzle is complete, players get a 1-3 score based on how many squares they moved.

Corgis can push and pull boxes; they will automatically pull or push whatever is in front of them as long as the proper button is being held. Corgis must stand on the boxes marked with X to spawn new dogs, and they will always spawn on the red dots on the floor. If the dot is blocked, the dog cannot spawn.

The Look and Feel of Corgi Cove

Corgi Cove is one of those games that just did pixel art graphics correctly. There is a kind of minimalist feel to the game that makes our friendly hero even more front and centre. He wiggles, barks, pants, and just acts like the world’s most adorable puzzle solver. I was immediately enamoured with Gizmo, and I wanted to see him safely home to his human friend.

A difficult puzzle with four pressure plates, three cloning squares, and four pluses in the center. — The puzzles continue to get harder as Gizmo continues down levels.

Great Animation

There is a lot of polish in Corgi Cove; it feels like a lot of thought went into the puzzles, the movement, and the dogs’ animations and the way they move together. It is cute, clean, and wonderful to look at. Some of the movement when walking around in 3D space as a corgi made me feel dizzy.

While the portions of the game in first person are super cute, as you can see your own snoot sticking out into the frame, I wish there was an option for a third-person perspective for those prone to motion sickness.

A puzzle room named Pushing On. — Gizmo needs to take the elevator to new levels and new puzzles.

That being said, the movement was only as hectic as I myself made it; in the several levels I played, I was never forced to run around corners or speed around, so I mostly did all the motion sickness to myself.

Overall, though, the game’s movement, animations, and other transitions are clean and well-made.

The Puzzles are for the Dogs

Gizmo the dog on a beach, looking at a lighthouse. — Gizmo finds himself lost and ownerless on a strange island.

Some of these puzzles got really hard! Look at this one; there are five total dogs you have to move around without knocking any furry friends off of the edges. Remember that when one dog moves, all of the others have to move the same way at the same time. These got incredibly challenging, and it was really difficult to complete some of the levels I got through.

Six floating platforms with cloning squares and several pressure plates. — These puzzles were getting very difficult at the end of level 4 and into level 5.

Absolutely stunning puzzle design from top to bottom. Then, the developer took those cute, furry friends and the challenging puzzles and put them all in an environment that made me want to keep playing.

I really loved the feel, the look, and the music in Corgi Cove. It felt alive in a way to me that most of these cute little puzzle-type games just aren’t.

A puzzle that looks like a cross with four wooden boxes blocking each corridor. — To win, players must push and pull boxes, clone themselves with the blue clone boxes on the floor, and move in ways they can get around.

Conclusion

Do you like corgis and challenging puzzles? Do you want to clone a cute dog and solve those puzzles with those cute clones? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then yes, you should get Corgi Cove. It’s sweet, it’s simple, it’s adorable, and it’s fun to play.

Additionally, I had a lot of fun during my time with Corgi Cove. Any puzzle lover can enjoy this little title for a fairly cheap price. I give it a hearty two thumbs up, and I think you will too.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up