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GNOG
GNOG
PUBLISHED: 15 AUGUST 2022
LAST UPDATE: 15 AUGUST 2022

GAME INFO
Title: GNOG
Year: 2018
Release date: 17 July 2018
Developer: KO_OP
Publisher: Double Fine
Genre: Casual, Puzzle, Surreal
Tags: [coming soon]
ACCESSIBILITY
Input: Keyboard, Controller
Interface Language: Multilanguage
Audio Language: //
Subtitles: //
DISCLAIMERS/TWs
Flashing lights, flashing elements, very bright colors.
going deep down
going deep down
story
Ok!
In GNOG you explore wonderful puzzle-filled monster heads: inside each one dwells a world telling an adventurous story!
With its surreal-looking rainbow-colored designs, GNOG will keep you entertained by interacting with every element in order to solve the many different puzzles.
Visual Style
Ok!

GNOG is a world of bright neon and vivid colors, with all-in-one puzzle boxes you must solve, similar to one-of-a-kind dioramas. Every box is different: different shape, different theme, different colors, different music and sound, different puzzles.
Everything is in low-poly and essential 3D, yet extreemely rich in details and design. All is broken down to simple geometrical shapes, combined to create settings, objects, people and animals: squares, circles, cilinders and so on.
Despite its semplicity, GNOG is visually outstanding and bizarre, exploring each head will stimulate your curiosity, pushing you to devour one level after the other just to see what kind of appearance it has!
game mechanics
Ok!
In GNOG you can explore in the same way you would with tactile toys and objects. As reported in the game description you can poke, pull, push, spin, grab, click, insert and much more in order to solve the puzzles.
There are a total of 9 puzzles, where each one represents a "monster head": in fact, every level is presented as some sort of "face with a world inside it".
And it's true!
When the "head" is presented to you, in the very moment in which you succeed in opening its back part, it will present you with a brightly-colored scene similar to a diorama and full of ingenious puzzles to interact with!
The goal is to solve all the puzzles, make the scene progress and come to its end.

Pay attention: the game is easy enough to be for everyone but this doesn't mean it's all straight-forward. On the contrary, there are at least a few puzzles that ask you to catch details or understand a fine mechanism you must balance to solve them.
Since the puzzles are from a very wide range of types,
One of the things I like the most is that almost every puzzle is also a micro-story/adventure. They aren't connected in any way and I've found them all very interesting and funny, the graphic style suits perfectly both the mechanics and the general setting.
Honestly I would have gone forward for many more hours. 9 levels is a good number but when you like the game so much, even if they had been the double they wouldn't have been enough!
SOUNDTRACK
Ok!
In my super humble opinion, music is half of the whole point of the game, despite I wouldn't classify it as a music one.
Every box has its own background music, very lively but still relaxing, able to maintain the time passed solving the puzzle very light and cheerful. It enhances the "casual" side of the game but in a good way, you can decide to start it and solve one of the boxes during a break and then go back to what you were doing.
As said, every box has its own music and once solved all the puzzle, it passes from a background/accompaniment melody in loop to a short more complex version at a louder volume, with a graphic choreography of the whole scene.
However, even though the music is in the background, it often reacts with the puzzle-solving progression or with the puzzles themselves. It's not completely static but interacts with the gameplay.
The more I think about it and the more I know I'd have liked a way to listen to all the tracks inside the game or the chance to buy the soundtrack with the extended versions. I would definitely listen to them during breaks or idle time!
Duration
Duration: 2 hours. As always I've taken my time, slowly exploring and enjoying every bit of the game.
There's nothing too complicated or frustrating but some details in a couple of levels can be tricky to notice or figure out. Nothing that investing a little time exploring won't help.
Interact with everything you see and can click on. Sometimes there are effects even if they aren't part of the puzzles themselves!
Performances: perfect!
Bugs: no bugs crawled out!
notes
No notes dwell here
My thoughts
Ok!
GNOG is a wonderful, whimsical and surreal puzzle game with awesome music, suitable for kids and adults. The graphic style is original and the experience is just right for a break or a lazy gaming night without the will to embark in more complex games and at the same time still keep the brain at work.
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recap
YAss
- Very colorful, with a bright, neon palette
- Super fun visual style
- Puzzle suitable for everyone
- Fantastic music
- Your Content Goes Here
so-so
- There are "only" 9 levels
- Many flashing lights and elements that can be annoying or triggeing to some people
Relax-O-Meter
The game is funny and suitable for all ages.
The point-and-click mechanics and the puzzles are enjoyable and a nice break, not too easy, not too difficult.
- = not an issue but could be a deal-breaker
- = minor bug/glitch or issue
- = serious bug/glitch or issue