Review: CorgiSpace Is a PICO-8 Game Celebration

Now, before I get into specific game recommendations and assessments, there’s one issue with CorgiSpace that is persistent among all games in this PICO-8 collection. That is the lack of explanation. There is no insight or explanation provided when headed into pretty much every game, though in some cases it is a bit obvious (Bandit Accountancy and Dust Bunny are perfect examples). If you head into a menu while in a game, you can see “controls,” but it’s mainly suggesting what cross and confirm buttons are and not offering an exact tutorial. I think a little explainer before heading into a game would have made a world of difference for some of the games. Considering other helpful and insightful information can appear on those pages, such as commentary from Saltsman that unlocks after playing a game once, I feel like there could have been room.

Now, in terms of the collection in general, I feel like CorgiSpace excels when presenting a player with PICO-8 approaches to puzzle games. Like Kuiper Cargo is an incredible cargo delivery and package arranging puzzle that involves strategically picking upgrades so you can deliver more cargo and be a better delivery person. I loved it. Sebastian’s Quest is this fantastic approach to sokobon where you’re pushing gems to ensure the pug can eat certain things to eventually get to a point at which delicious cheese can be consumed. Mole Mole is another sokobon, but it also feels Bomberman-like due to needing to use bombs to clear walls and dirt to reach staircases. (But without blowing up the mole or stairs to the next level!) Dust Bunny involves cleaning up and removing all dust in small mazes, while also being very aware of the fact that white buffs will stick to the rabbit and keep you from getting every speck of dirt in certain spots. Dino Sort, while short, is one of my favorites in that it’s a logic puzzle where you must meet every dinosaur’s specific conditions in a small space to progress to the next level. Every CorgiSpace puzzle game I’ve played is varying degrees of fun, and sometimes even great in the case of Kuiper Cargo, Dino Sort, and Sebastian’s Quest. 

I’d also say some of the action games with puzzle elements come out of this looking pretty good, though they falter due to the fact that there is no explanation as to what you’re doing. Vampire vs Pope Army features this hilarious premise where we are a vampire trying to wipe out every pope. You need to approach attacks in the right order, as sunlight can damage you, popes’ holiness “spheres” zap health, and you’ll need to grab badges that increase your health as you traverse the area. But because there are no explanations about what hurts you or how to approach things, it gets frustrating. Cave of Cards is similar in that you’re trying to get three-of-a-kind of spades, diamonds, hearts, and swords while chipping away at blockades around you. But there’s no explanation as to what any of those matches do or the point of it. Again, spending at least 15 minutes with it helps you work it out, but I do wish there’d been a little more explanation. Especially when I’d suddenly die to an unknown enemy. (It often was a mushroom. Even if it looks like a solid wall, if it’s mushroom-shaped I think it could still attack.)

Once we get into the action games, then things start feeling a little less solid. There are some standouts here, to be clear. Skeleton Gelatin feels like a 2D Metroidvania with a slime that makes goo bubbles that help you get around things and solve puzzles. It’s thoughtful, easy to work things out, and makes you think. Rat Dreams is sort of an action-RPG-like game where it feels like traversing a dungeon filled with enemies. But since it relies on dodge rolls, it really takes getting used to in order to work out how to deal with enemies, survive, and succeed. Prince of Prussia is very cool once you figure out how to handle the 2D, stealth, nazi assassination game. However, since there’s no tutorial or explanation, it took me about 15 minutes to figure out how to even carry out an assassination and attack. (Jumping is also very frustrating there, since it involves using a dodge motion and many gaps involve spike-filled pits.) Bandit Accountancy sort of feels “there,” since you’re only swiftly sorting colored gems. While Derbis might appeal to some Astrosmash fans, the grappling hook element and difficulty figuring out what to shoot and how to grab left me so frustrated that I never played it after my initial 30 minute test.

However, with the wealth of games there it does make it okay if a PICO-8 game in CorgiSpace doesn’t click with you. (I seriously didn’t like Derbis!) I think it’s also worth checking the ones you don’t think you’d like. There are sometimes hidden secrets in their menus. For example, in the Bandit Accountancy menu, I found Snake clones like one called Weasel with a cute, white, long weasel moving around an enclosed space to grow hearts, gradually getting bigger as it did. 

Given how little it costs and how much you get, I feel like it’s worth taking a chance on the CorgiSpace PICO-8 game collection. The 13+ games there are pretty diverse. I do think the puzzle games are the real stars, though a few action titles can feel pretty special too. It would have been great if there had been better tutorials for some of the experiences. Still, I feel it’s worth a try.

CorgiSpace is available on PCs now.