Quick Reviews: Path of Giants

It helps to keep a cool head while solving puzzles.

Sounds simple enough, let's get going!

A creation of Journey Bound Games released on February 14th, 2020, Path of Giants follows a group of three coat-clad explorers climbing a mountain. Blue, Yellow and Green (their base colors, though those are customizable) are seeking the grand treasure left up there by ancients, who have also created a series of puzzles requiring these adventurers, also equipped with trinkets of their respective color, to work as a team.

The controls are limited, everything is done with the mouse. You pick an adventurer and then click the square you want them to head to. They’ll shake their head if they don’t have a way to reach that destination. They have very limited physical skills; their jumping isn’t great, so in order to reach a higher ledge they’ll often need to jump on a buddy’s head and then climb up the ledge. Therefore, part of the puzzle is to figure out how to move the adventurers around to get them to their designated goal – the green goal for the green-clad adventurer, etc.

(near the door by the top of the screen)
"Oops! Sorry about your head, Yellow."
"No need to apologize every time, or we'll be
on this mountain all year."

Button spins thingy, button de-spins thingy.
Okay, I'm all set!

The puzzle segments get trickier: There are levers that any adventurer can activate, that can radically change the level. Most levels also involve pressure pads that are color-coded, meaning only one precise adventurer can actually use them and, if necessary, can move on and off of them while the other two move about. Second, some bridges are also color-coded as collapsing squares that can only be crossed by the explorer of that bridge’s color. This, coupled with the characters’ physical limitations, makes for pretty creative and often tough puzzles.

Those are sooo easy! Like a nice break
between mind-bending challenges.

At the end of each level, the three regroup to open the door towards the next level, which requires solving a very simple puzzle of rotating tiles in order to form a path reuniting three circles of the explorers’ colors.

There is a secondary goal that involves finding three Emblems in each level by breaking pots with the mouse, and finding all of the emblems unlocks a bonus level past the twelfth. On top of that, a second series of levels, Winterfest Island, is unlocked after beating the main Story Mode.

Remember: The goal isn't to make the characters
all get to the same place, it's for them to reach
their destination. That tripped me up sometimes.

This one was fun! With its very simple controls (likely adapted for mobile play), its style and the puzzles it offers, it’s certainly a game to check out. The adventurers are adorable. Would it be wrong for me to squee? The way they move and help each other is so darn cute. The puzzles are very clever, often featuring contraptions that lead to interesting solutions, or doors that let explorers travel across. Also of note, if you ever get stuck (an adventurer getting trapped in a place where it can’t return from, as an example), you can undo one move with a button on the bottom right of the screen, or start the current puzzle over through the menu.

Customizable colors, too - in case you'd prefer
green, blue and red, or any other combo.

Although understandable, sometimes you can’t prepare the characters’ moves in advance (ex. knowing where each character can go, but characters refusing to in case they cross paths). As a result, while fun, the game often feels slow. The game is also not super-difficult; I rarely got to parts where I had no idea how to proceed, though it did happen. It’s actually fairly relaxing, as far as games go.

For a nice, calm gaming experience, I recommend this one. Path of Giants is available on Steam for 8.99$.