Hands-On: PHOGS!

Here’s a fun one. From publisher Coatsink and brand-new indie developer Bit Loom comes PHOGS!, a game we really have to just left speak for itself. According to Bit Loom, PHOGS! is “an adventure puzzler where you control a duo of dogs connected by a gelatinous mid-section,” and in practice, that’s exactly what it is – think CatDog, but both ends are dogs and they have no legs. It sounds nuts, but it turns out there’s a method behind the madness.
PHOGS! draws some immediate comparisons to Snake Pass, another adventure game based around a slithering, legless protagonist.

Without the ability to jump, our dog heroes must traverse their environment in other ways, primarily by grabbing and manipulating things with their mouths. This grab mechanic forms the core of the gameplay, and the demo we played gets a surprising amount of mileage out of the concept. The dogs can grab onto ledges, anchor themselves on poles, and drag objects across the world; the latter is necessary to complete the main objective: bring an acorn to a giant worm/snake, which will eat it (and you), and lead you to the next area.

Things get more complicated from there. The dogs can drag a glowing light ball around, which can shrink walls of darkness and ring bells to awaken sleeping enemies. They can hold on to environmental objects to stop sudden wind gusts from blowing them and their gelatinous belly away. One dog can latch itself onto a water pipe, which causes the other dog to become the world’s most adorable fire hose. It provides the gameplay with some appreciable depth, but doesn’t distract from the title’s soft and adorable art style.

The dogs bounce around the levels with happy grins on their faces, and even the enemies looks squishy and cuddly instead of imposing. This is one to keep an eye on if you’re looking for a silly, relaxing time – and come on, these dogs are just too cute.

PHOGS! has no release date yet, but it will be available for PC and a to-be-determined set of consoles.