Tonguey: Next Level Rock, Paper, Scissors game – Review

‘Rock, paper, scissors’ is most of our first game that we learned. The noble game is an excellent pastime, an argument settler, and an infinite source of philosophical quests, such as ‘how exactly paper win against rocks?’, especially when intoxicated. The only downside of the game is that it requires an opponent, I mean, you can try playing it alone but people will move their seat away from you if you do. Tonguey by Victor Galo is the solution to that problem and more.

The object of the game is rather simple: open locked door to the next stage by defeating rock, paper and scissor monsters as a magical chameleon, who takes the form of the platform which it stands on. The player can either attack the enemy directly when possible, but also destroy the platform that enemy is stepping on and make it fall it its death. That’s not all, the game throws another layer and made the enemies hostile to each other. Like the enemies will be attracted and attempt to attack the player if he/she is in element that can be taken out, the enemies will actively move towards another enemy in sight and destroy each other. As you can see, the game added quite the depth to ol’ rock, paper, scissors. Not to mention, all these tricks are well ingrained to the game so player can choose which tactics to use to solve the puzzle.

Now you may think this game is way too complicated for your taste and it will take too long for you to figure out more tricks and tips the game throws at you. Luckily, unlike a lot of other mobile games that throws the game at the players’ faces and expect us to figure out, Tonguey offers a very well thought out tutorial stages to make sure players are ready to play the game confidently.

Let’s talk about aesthetics, the game’s simple graphic is unthreatening and down to earth. It is rather minimal but I suppose it is a ok given the fact it is a puzzle game and you don’t want any distraction from the actual puzzle. I must admit, however, the background gets kinda boring even though it changes every 20 stages or so. Same goes for the music, yes it is well suited for the game but boy, does it get tiresome. Even though I know I shouldn’t be complaining too much about these type of things because this is a game developed by one person and it is exceptionally well designed puzzle game, it is hard to get over how tiring on both eyes and ears due to how similar each stage feels.

If you are a true lover of good puzzles and can focus on getting that perfect score using your wits and nimble fingers, Tonguey will give you hours of joy. If you are much like me, who constantly needs sensory stimulation, well, the hours of joy may cut rather short. It will not bring as much entertainment as that time you learned rock, paper, scissors, but it is definitely worth the purchase for its level of completion in game design and the concept alone.