Sidehill Gouger is a puzzle game where you must use your hunting skills to track down and hit a Gouger, that’s Gouger not Cougar, get your minds out the gutter!
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The closest I can think that this game is similar to is a game of Minesweeper. Although the games look nothing like each other there are some similarities in the gameplay. You move around a forest in a grid like fashion, and must use deduction based on the type of Clearing (a square) the player is standing on to work out the location of the Gouger, once you think you have correctly located it you fire a catapult at that area. A correct guess completes the level and a miss will fail.
There are a few types of clearings which you can compare to the numbers in Minesweeper. An empty clearing means that it is safe in one clearing in every direction, loose dirt means a hole is nearby, a bloodied floor means the gouger is two clearings nearby and a loose dirt mixed with blood means both a Gouger and a hole is nearby. Much like minesweeper you must carefully travel from clearing to clearing while avoiding holes and other obstacles and use these geographical hints to pinpoint the Gouger.
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You play the character of a young boy who has imagined a world where he must hunt the Gouger based on his Grandfathers stories which are told in the introduction which is done well. The boy sets off on his journey through 36 levels split over three days where he must reach the fishing lake. Levels are randomly generated each time you play so you are not able to cheat to find out the location of the Gouger, this also keeps the game feeling fresh as the level layout is different each time.
There are a few obstacles to make things a trickier for the young adventurer. Curves in pathways lead you blindly into the next clearing so extra care and attention must be paid to the surrounding area as it can lead to a deathly hole for example. As the game progresses the curving pathways are more regular and leads to an almost maze like design which makes for a challenging game. Two other obstacles are also introduced, a Treesqueek will fly you to a random clearing in the game which can be both a help and hindrance. A Hidebehind will make you loose your memory and reset the clearings you previously visited. The challenge of the levels varies, you can sometimes get a hard level followed by an easier level due to the random generator.
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The overall difficulty does increase as you progress but you can still find the harder then easier levels during the game which does sometimes lead to frustration. Once you complete a day consisting of twelve levels you reach the fishing lake where you take a well earned rest and the opportunity to view any of the three awards you may have gained. The first you will automatically receive for completing the day, the second is for a consecutive completion streak of all the levels and the third is to complete each level in its respective par time. The second and third awards provide a good challenge to unlock and will take some time to get.
The presentation is done very well, the menus are easy to navigate, the introduction sequence sets the scene and there are a few animated cutscenes such as when you find the Gouger. The graphics are consistent throughout and look great. Music is kept to a minimum with a music track for the menus and background birdsong noises in game, along with the sound effects which are used sparingly it adds to the tension of the game with some speech for when the Gouger is found to give a sense of achievement.
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Sidehill Gouger costs just 80 :MSPoints: which is very good value for a game of this quality. It will take a few hours to complete all three days and the extreme challenge, then quite a few more to replay the levels and gain the awards for each day if you wish to. Sidehill Gouger is a good and solid puzzle game which easily gets a thumbs up from me.
You can find more information as well as the trial and full versions of Sidehill Gouger on the Marketplace.
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