Chuchel: Overview of the mobile version

Remember the squirrel from the Ice Age movies who was always obsessed with acorns? Chuchel is essentially the video game version. Its little black, hairy protagonist is obsessed with cherries, and the whole game is devoted to humorous and inventive ways to lead him to the precious prize, using mostly traditional point-and-click adventure game mechanics.

Feature

Animated Anarchy Chuchel is a game from Amanita Design that pretty much guarantees two things: fantastic art design and general weirdness. The same development company that released Machinarium and Samorost.

The reason why the hero can’t just eat his coveted fruit is twofold. First, there’s an annoying little pink rodent who also wants to steal the cherry for himself. Secondly, there is also a giant black hand that descends from the sky and plucks the cherry when it is within reach. This hand tends to place its prize in all sorts of bizarre and dangerous situations to try, for example.

Although the prized cherry constantly changes location, the way the user plays is largely unchanged. Whether he encounters a giant creature that has swallowed the fruit or a giant UFO trying to kidnap it, he will still try to find a way to get his cherry back with classic gameplay.

So it’s necessary to observe what’s going on, to click on items you can interact with and try to see if any combination of clicks can lead to some sort of intelligent solution. There are times when actions trigger a context menu where you can choose several different ways to interact with something, as well as some times when things can be time-based.

For the most part, the game is experimental. It has a somewhat coherent story, but the transitions between scenes feel more like a series of vignettes than any grand adventure. This is largely due to the fact that many scenes end with a pop-up title card before moving on.

The merits

While it may seem a little strange, the sudden scene changes in the game are truly impressive. They allow you to focus on putting logical transitions into increasingly crazy scenarios. It all works surprisingly well, mostly thanks to a sense of charm. The gibberish and exaggerated mannerisms of the little ball of wool make you want to see how it will interact with everything in a given scene.

So Amanita Design have a great understanding of how to design episodes that create a sense of wonder but retain a clear logic. If there’s one complaint about the game, there are times when the animation – however delightful – is uninteresting. If you solve the puzzles in a trial-and-error style, you have to perform certain actions several times.

Bottom Line Chuchel is a little game that feels like playing a strange animated short at the beginning of a children’s film. It’s creative, bright and charming, but all of these qualities are somewhat transient. As long as the player sneaks around without roadblocks, it’s handy. However, if you have to sit through any repetitive animation, it can feel like a chore.