Oggipital Review – Fresh Gameplay, Colorful Graphics, And High Difficulty

Puzzle games are everywhere in today’s mobile indie game market, and many times are simply different copies of each other.

Puzzle games are everywhere in today’s mobile indie game market, and many times are simply different copies of each other. New types of games and gameplay are rare, needing a fresh style of gameplay that makes them stand apart from the other games. Oggipital is one such game, released today for iOS mobile devices by SNEEWEIS. There are some elements of this game that are confusing, so I’ll try to keep it simple during my description.

Oggipital is played using two fingers and the “zoom out” and “zoom in“ motions. Players use these two motions to cut through cute, circular creatures called Kisau Veelas, and to pinch a dreaded skull-faced creature called the Oggiput. Each cut through a Kisau Veela creates two more that head in opposite directions, pushing other Kisau Veelas around and keeping the game moving at a fast-pace.

There are different kinds of Kisau Veelas, starting with 3, but eventually reaching a total of 6 during gameplay by adding another kind of creature each time players succeed in reaching the next level. Now, here’s where it starts to get complicated. Players are only able to cut through the Kisau Veelas horizontally, with very slight angles. Cutting vertically, or through an empty space is an illegal move, and will summon the Oggipital to wreak havoc. It’s important to pinch the Oggipital in one try, otherwise it will be an instant game over.

By cutting through the creatures horizontally, players essentially cut the screen in two, dividing it into a smaller side and a larger side. This decides what type of Kisau Veela splits apart from the one player’s cut. The most common type within the smaller side will launch into the larger side, while the rarest type in the larger side launches into the smaller side. Players must cut through all the Kisau Veelas until more than half of them are of the same type. Once that happens, and as long as all of the initial Kisau Veelas have been cut at least once, the player levels up and heads to the next stage of the game.

The game looks simple and cute, using bright colors and strange designs to create unique creatures. Kisau Veelas are different from each other through their colors and their expressive faces, which helps somewhat when it comes to trying to finish the level. Meanwhile, the soundtrack is simple and fun, including sound effects of tiny voices squealing in delight as they fly around the screen and bounce off of each other.

Each game and playthrough tends to be fairly short, perhaps 10 minutes at most. Players go through four levels of gameplay initially. There’s also an expert mode that starts players off with a higher score and four types of Kisau Veela, instead of the initial three. The game stays with you, mainly because of the serious challenge that it poses.

I got a bit of fun out of the game, but I also got a little bit of frustration. Oggipital is not easy, nor very forgiving. It’s easy to get a game over, all it takes is a single mistake. Even so, the difficulty of the game should be applauded, because it’s based on how the mechanics of the game work. What does not seem to work very well is the tutorial. Though it explains the rules and controls of the game well, it’s a lot to take in and the tutorial barely give players a moment to absorb the information. I needed to go through the tutorial multiple times before I really understood how to play the game, and even then I wasn’t good at it. The game requires quick assessment and thinking, in order to figure out what the best move is. With the Kisau Veela moving all the time, it’s difficult to make that move quick enough without making a mistake.

Even with this in mind, this is an innovative game. The gameplay feels new and fresh, and the challenges brought on force a lot of concentration. I felt pretty fulfilled when I understood how to play the game, and was able to make it to the end of the expert mode, but I’m not sure I knew what I was doing. This is probably not a game for a casual gamer, unless they are patient, and fine with a frustrating learning curve.

Oggipital is out for iOS mobile devices for $2.99 USD on the App Store. Is the game worth the price point to buy? Yes, but only if players understand that this is a game that will test their skills every single time.