Go North is coming to Steam and though we don’t have a release date yet, I was able to play the demo on a PC with a controller.
Go North: A Maze Game? But I Get Lost Easily
I had the extreme pleasure of playing the demo of Go North, a game developed and published by gazuntype, a solo dev in Lagos, Nigeria. The premise of the game is solving mazes, which, to be honest, was only mildly interesting to me. I tend to get lost easily!! But for some reason, this game spoke to me and I downloaded the demo. Wow – it’s fantastic!! The main premise is that Dara must “go north”, meet the Maze God and have her undying wish granted. To do that, she has to pass through many individual mazes.
The Gameplay of Go North Demo
Right off the bat, we are asked if we want to play in “assisted mode”. Yes!! Says me, who gets lost all the time!! I need a ton of assistance. Turns out this mode allows you to press a button to get a string of footprints which lead you towards the exit. Super!! But be cautious. I played level two with and without the assisted mode. While playing with assisted mode definitely kept me from getting lost, I missed so much!! I missed picking plants, observing the environment and interacting with NPCs. I’d recommend only using assisted mode when really lost and confused.
There are other aids to help us get out of the mazes, too. There is the Mazecrest, which flies to the exit and leaves a guiding gem for us to follow. And there are Skydrop Fountains. When you touch one, you go up in the air in a bubble and can see the path out. When you are ready to descend, you float down using a parachute. Unique right? Also, there is the Waybloom, which guides you on a path to a waypoint which you’ve selected. Lots of help. The dev told me the mazes will get progressively harder, but at the same time, I will be given more helpful items. He said in the end, it will balance out. I was glad to hear that!!
You can also find or purchase Lunaboards (with in-game currency). They are like hoverboards and let you move really fast. I tried one, but honestly, there is so much to look at and explore on the ground, I didn’t want to go fast and miss anything.
Go North lends itself to slow, careful, deep exploration, which I love! Likewise, you can run in the game, which causes your energy to deplete, but I really preferred taking my time and exploring. There are other aids you can buy from an NPC named Moyo.
There is no day/night cycle, no need to eat or sleep and except for losing energy when running, you can just do what you want. Your energy level naturally increases again very quickly. I love that!
There will also be an Arcade mode in the final game, which uses some procedural generation to create random mazes for me to explore. They would be unrelated to the main storyline, just extras for fun. The final game should have about 50 mazes in it! That’s a lot of gameplay. I’m sure looking forward to it.
The Other Characters in the Game
The first NPC we meet is the Meadow Maker, who created the first maze. He’s an interesting, if slightly creepy character. He’s a grown man who likes to hide in bushes and surprise me. Huh. One of my early quests was to find him three times. I received a gem from somewhere, I forget where. Maybe it was when I completed that quest? But in addition to collecting coins, I can also collect gems.
I met an NPC who gave me a pickaxe, so I assume there will be some form of mining in the game. I see some interesting-looking gems on the paths, but at this point, I have not figured out where my pickaxe went and if I could use it on them. That’s ok, gives me more to discover later! A very interesting feature of the game is that while I am conversing with an NPC, I can see my thoughts as well as theirs. So I may say something like “I can do that” out loud while thinking in my head “oooh, this is scary”. I haven’t run into that feature in a game before.
I often have difficulty understanding what to do at the beginning of games, but Go North held my hand just enough that I figured out most things quickly. Well….I’m not quite sure yet how to use the pickaxe. But I’ll figure that out.
I met many other NPCs as well as a wide variety of animals and various critters. One time, a frog jumped right near me! And I can pet the animals! I really enjoyed the various maze worlds. In the 2nd level of the demo, I was given some quests by new NPCs. They were not too difficult but were a lot of fun. I’m not sure yet if the game will only consist of the NPCs I have met or if there will be new ones. It doesn’t really matter! It’s all good!
The Worlds of the Mazes
So far, I have explored 2 mazes and their environments – the forest and the meadow. They were 2 different worlds with unique landscape features. Both were very detailed and beautiful. And they were chock full of really interesting-looking gates that I can easily open. I liked looking at them! However, some of the paths are blocked by “corruption”, which looks like a big purple/black blob. If you get too close to it, you are temporarily weakened. You can use special orbs to remove the corruption and open the paths.
As you walk along the paths, you collect coins and an assortment of plants. There’s a cool mechanic to pick the plants, which I enjoyed. As in many games, you have a backpack to store your items in and a journal to keep track of your quests.
Final Thoughts
I thought this would be a simple maze game and frankly expected to not enjoy it much. Because of the getting lost all the time thing…..
But I really loved it. There is so much more to Go North than mazes. There is a wide variety of NPCs, animals, plants and things to find. There are quests which I enjoy a lot. I played in single-player mode, but there is also a multiplayer mode.
Last but definitely not least, the game has a beautifully soothing soundtrack which pairs perfectly with the quiet adventure you are on. Go North will be a winner in my books! What are you waiting for? Try the Go North demo today!
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