Developer: RedDeer.Games
Publisher: RedDeer.Games
Platform: Switch (2)
Tested on: Switch 2
Freaky Trip: Puzzled – Review
If you look up the Freaky Trip series in the Nintendo eShop, you’re greeted with a whopping 40 titles. Don’t let that fool you into thinking you have a lot to catch up on though. The vast majority of these are just different ‘editions’ of the same game: a 2023 point-and-click adventure just titled Freaky Trip. All those eShop entries are rereleases with varying combinations of DLC tacked onto the game. We were somewhat surprised to find that recently released spin-off title Freaky Trip: Puzzled is only the second full-fledged game in the series. Despite that plethora of DLC bundles, Freaky Trip had slipped under our radar up until this point. The release of the new title seemed like a great opportunity to change that.
Story
You’ll have to forgive us for not knowing who Salcy and Cockapoo are, as we haven’t played the original Freaky Trip. Not that it matters anyway, as this spinoff doesn’t feature a story whatsoever, and just shows the two series protagonists in a series of cutesy illustrated scenes. These scenes aren’t necessarily connected, but when they are, they present very simple stories, like when our heroes work together to finish a puzzle and then attempt to hang the framed version on the wall. Other moments are grouped by theme but feature no narrative elements as far as we’re aware. Your mileage may vary if you have indeed played through that previous point-and-click adventure. Perhaps the scenes you’re seeing are throwbacks to key moments from the game. Even if they are, we can’t imagine that the overall experience of playing Freaky Trip: Puzzled is much more meaningful or deeper if you’re familiar with the source material compared to us laymen.
Graphics
The illustrated scenes that feature our protagonists are the main draw of Freaky Trip: Puzzled. To the game’s credit, these do look great. The game’s different puzzle packs cover a wide variety of themes, ranging from different seasonal activities to our heroes having fun in the pool and even venturing out into space. Naturally, the game is very lightweight, and there were no notable visual performance issues.
Sound
We’re not sure whether or not the tunes that play in the background of Freaky Trip: Puzzled were taken from the original game, but they fit the overall relaxing pace and cosy atmosphere of the game. Because of the nature of the game, music takes up the vast majority of the soundscape, with functional sound effects like the shuffling of tiles adding tactility but nothing else.
Gameplay
The eShop page for Freaky Trip: Puzzled states that the game features relaxing jigsaw puzzles. That’s a bit deceptive, however, because apart from a jigsaw puzzle being featured in a few of the illustrations, there are none to be found here. Instead, the game offers slide puzzles. That’s about everything that you’ll find here, though we’ll say that it’s still quite an extensive package. Not only are there multiple themed puzzle packs, but each puzzle also offers three difficulty levels. For fans of slide puzzles, that means that you’ve got your work cut out here, especially since you’ll earn a star rating depending on the amount of moves within which you solve each puzzle. There is no time limit, however, so you can take your time planning out your moves to keep that same turn limit under control.
Mind you, this isn’t the first slide puzzle game that RedDeer.Games has released on an unsuspecting public. However, the vast majority of those other titles are of the lewd variety, so a more family-friendly alternative is always welcome. We suspect that the underlying engine is the exact same in Freaky Trip: Puzzled as it is in games like Hentai Girls or Hentai Stars. Mind you, we wouldn’t be able to say this with 100% certainty, as our idea of a good puzzle game doesn’t involve AI-generated anime breasts, so we skipped those when they debuted. That said, there is some frustration when it comes to that same slide puzzle engine, despite the inherent simplicity of the mechanics. For some reason we cannot fathom, you cannot slide puzzle pieces with the D-pad and instead will have to rely on a joystick. While that may not sound like a big deal, in practice this turned out to be quite counterintuitive.
For the most part though, Freaky Trip: Puzzled delivers exactly what you’d expect. The game’s eShop page also hints at more puzzle packs coming in the future. We presume these will be paid DLC, though that probably also means that, like its predecessor, Freaky Trip: Puzzled will see a couple of different “editions” over its lifetime. That said, we don’t expect any additional puzzle packs to offer something new in terms of actual gameplay. While the base price of €6.99 feels quite steep for what’s being offered here, RedDeer.Games isn’t a stranger to deep discounts either. Until November 12th, you can pick up the game with a hefty launch discount, dropping the price down to €1.99. While the game itself is simply too by-the-numbers to outright recommend it to everyone, fans of either Freaky Trip or slide puzzles may find that discounted price to be worth it.
Conclusion
We’d say that Freaky Trip: Puzzled does what it says on the tin, if the tin hadn’t confused slide puzzles with jigsaw puzzles. There are, of course, plenty of slide puzzle games on the market, but these days, the vast majority make use of AI-generated images, often of the 18+ variety. That Freaky Trip: Puzzled sticks to hand-drawn, family-friendly art instead should be reason enough to consider picking it up.
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