OmoTomO Review (Nintendo Switch)

The Nintendo Switch has a large collection of logic puzzles in its library. Games for when you don’t feel like button mashing, don’t feel like tending the farm or jumping from platform to platform. OmoTomO is a new addition to the eShop, one that not only helps you exercise the grey cells. Plus, it’s also designed to feel like you are in a Zen garden: time for some peace and quiet!

Invoking the Zen feeling

The first thing I noticed in the game is how good it looks. Your opening screen shows a wooden box, set on a bamboo mat on a wooden desk. The wooden box looks sleek, almost polished. Fine grained wood that makes you want to touch it to feel its softness. A sweet drawing shows on the screen of two worms (?) in a spring garden, and a drawer slides out smoothly. A board of little cubicles is shown, and without much fanfare, you face your first puzzle. Set in a Japanese garden with the sand raked in intricate patterns and black smooth pebbles and lush bamboo foliage on the side.

You might ask yourself why I’m describing this in such detail, but it’s the details that matter in OmoTomO. You see, everything is carefully designed to mimic a traditional Japanese Garden to invoke the Zen feeling. The wormlike creatures (or are they roots of an ancient tree. I think I’ll go with that!) are there searching for water. And it’s your job to guide them to it.

You learn as you go

The instruction to the game is in the first levels. Not in text, but by the way the first level starts off very easy with the roots travelling in a straight line to a well of water, one for each of them. Each of the roots has a separate well, and when it reaches the destination, blooms sprout up. Puzzle done.

At first it’s easy sailing. But then, at level 7 or so, the difficulty is ramped up. The pebbles are smooth, so the root just shoots through to the next stop point. At level 13 loose stones on top of the pebbles are introduced, allowing you to make a stop. Even farther in the levels, new items and contraptions are added to keep the puzzles interesting.

You have to control the one root with the right stick, and the other with the left stick. Always is a bit of a challenge for me, to remember which root is controlled by which stick. And the thing is, there’s no Back button. Once you mess up a puzzle, you have to start over.

And let me tell you, I’ve had to start over a lot. Even had to hand my Switch to my daughter at one point to solve a puzzle I just wasn’t getting. My Zen feeling was far gone at that moment!

Flawless puzzle mechanics

The key features of OmoTomO are the visuals and the satisfying feeling of everything running smoothly. The controls work flawlessly, the sound effects are pleasant and the background music is totally fitting to the Japanese garden theme. There are 50 puzzles, tied in to one of the seasons when the garden subtly changes.

OmoTomO is a game that is funded by the Swiss Art council Pro Helvetia that supports Swiss arts and culture in 2018. The game is produced at the University of Arts in Zürich by students, so that makes it extra special!

Conclusion

The levels start out easy, but turn difficult pretty quick. Of course, that might just be me, as I’m no puzzle buff. If you are into logic puzzles a lot they might be easier. The puzzling mechanic isn’t novel, but it’s very well executed. The visuals and sounds are great, and I like the idea of the Japanese Garden.

I had a good time playing OmoTomO, sometimes in a totally Zen mood, sometimes getting annoyed that I couldn’t solve it.

Final Verdict: I like it