I am a huge puzzle game fan, and one of my favorite styles of puzzle games like Breakout and Arkanoid. Doughlings: Arcade is that type of game, but it throws its own flair on the genre. Your goal is to help Morpheus find the six hidden DNAs to morph into other personas, which each have their own special abilities.
My biggest problem with Doughlings is that the game does not make it very clear what your objective is in the beginning. This is partially my fault, as I decided to go in blindly without reading anything about the game ahead of time. But after a few levels, I finally realized what was happening and began to progress through the game with a bit more purpose.
One of the interesting aspects of this game is that you’re not necessarily required to clear the screen. While it does help, and you get more stars and rewards if you do, you are only required to clear a large percentage of each stage to move on to the next. In fact, when you do get to that point, you have a limited time to clear as many as you can before the timer runs out, ending the level.
I was very happy to see there are online leaderboards, which are a huge benefit to games like this, especially if you have a desire to beat your friends. The only problem is that I have very few friends with the game. Luckily, I could still see how I stacked up with others around the world.
While I am not a huge fan of creating levels, I was really surprised to see there was a creator included. This gives Doughlings even more replay-value, as everyone’s creativity is really the only limitation. So if 90 levels are not enough, you can check out what others have made.
While these games are not for everyone, I am typically a big fan. And while this genre is one of the oldest of all video games, Morpheus found a way to make it feel fresh. If you are a fan of games like Arkanoid, do yourself a favor and check out Doughlings Arcade.
I streamed my first play-through of the game on September 14, which is embedded below.
GAME: Doughlings: Arcade
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Hero Concept
ESRB: E for Everyone
MSRP: $6.99
OBTAINED: Review code provided by developers/publishers
Steve is the Senior Editor of NintendoFuse and co-host of the NintendoFuse Podcast. He’s been a Nintendo gamer since age 6 and has been on staff with NintendoFuse since 2008.