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Your precious pet has been stolen in the middle of the night. Luckily, you’ve woken up just in time to witness the two thief leaving through an unusual green portal. Without a second thought, you follow after them. After all they’ve kidnapped your very best friend. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do to get him back. Bring You Home is the latest game from Alike Studio, and the first to be released on Steam. You might have played their previous point & click game Love You to Bits on Android/IOS.

The main character is Polo and he’s not going home without his beloved pet. He’ll stop at nothing to rescue his alien pet. Bring You Home has 48 levels including two endings. Some of these levels contain collectibles. There are fifteen picture to collect which you can view at any time from the main screen by going into “collectibles”. The pictures are optional, but the artwork is beautiful. Collecting them also offers an extra challenge. Some are hidden, but even the ones that are in plain view are not always straightforward to collect.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3540035964
Bring You Home is a puzzle-platformer with a twist. Instead of guiding a character through the level, you control the environment itself. It starts with one simple mechanic and build on it to create a really interesting gameplay. The concept is not unique in itself, but I’ve never seen it done quite this way before.

The thieves left through a mysterious portal. Polo, our main character, follows after them. Each level start by a short cut-scene. You watch the two thieves entering by the green portal on the left of the screen carrying your pet and exiting through a similar portal on the right. Our main character pursue them through this entrance portal, and you watch as he attempt to reach the exit portal. Reaching the exit portal is not a simple matter due to the many obstacle in his way. The level then resets, and it’s up to you to help Polo reach the exit and one step closer to his goal.

The first level has one panel that you can cycle through, and subsequently more panels get added for more challenge. Each panel has different objects and/or characters. The goal is to find the right combination that will let you reach the level’s ending. For example the first level has a ledge you have to climb on, but it’s not as easy as it seems. There are several panels with different options, and you need to find the right one. This first level is a bit of trial and error, but levels usually have a certain logic behind the solution once you have more than one panel to solve. There are however a handful of levels which I couldn’t solve with logic alone and had to go with trial and error. This can take a while since the later levels sometimes have many steps to solve.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3540466256
The game is good at introducing the different mechanics one at a time and making sure you got it before continuing to the next one. When a mechanic is introduced, it’s not combined with any other so it’s easier to get the hang of it. Eventually you can switch the order of the panel, and once it’s combined with the previous mechanics you’ll find yourself with a lot of options to choose from. As an example a panel might have a cat on it, and when Polo advances the cat jumps on him to stop his progression. There might be another panel that has a bird on it. If you put the bird before the cat, the cat will follow the bird and let Polo pass unscathed. Later in the game there are also some more traditional puzzles mixed in.

Each level has a unique combination of mechanics which makes each and every one truly unique. It makes the game interesting because you never know what to expect. The level design is impressive. Each one has its own flavor. There are so many different styles of level and the developers have done a great job of merging all those styles to make it work in a unified and distinct style.

Bring You Home is a gorgeous game. It has colourful artwork and a cheerful yet cozy vibe. What I love the most about it is the variety of aesthetics and different styles from level to level. Most levels have a cartoon like style with bright and lively artwork, but there is a bit of everything in this game. There also pixel art, retro, and even one of my favourite, an entire level in pencil drawing artwork. The great thing is that the puzzles in each level match the art style. For example, there’s a level with retro style artwork, and the puzzles in this level reflect the style. Instead of using the panel mechanics, this level has some retro puzzles to match the artwork. Every level is surprising in its own way, and I enjoyed looking at every corner of every level to see what I could discover. I couldn’t wait to see what was next. Bring You Home is a feast for the eyes.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3540035627
The soundtrack is on par with the visual. One thing I hate in a game is repetitive music. In Bring You Home, just like with the aesthetics, the music is unique for every level. Each one has it’s own distinct music while still keeping a unified style. Even though each level has its own specific sounds, jumping to a different level doesn’t feel discordant. It all works perfectly together to create a great experience.

Bring You Home is a short game and the vast diversity in aesthetics and puzzle style kept me interested until the end. I played the whole game in one sitting. It took me about three hours to complete all of the levels and the two endings. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. There were a few solutions that didn’t feel logical, but generally levels were fun to solve. The game is fun and easy enough to be relaxing while still offering some challenge. The developers have done a tremendous job at using every aspect from artwork to puzzles to create an overall wonderful experience. If you are looking for something that will stump you at every opportunity, this is not the game for you, but if like me you enjoy spending a couple of hours immersed in relaxing puzzling while relishing the gorgeous artwork that surprises you at times, then Bring You Home is definitely for you.

• Gorgeous artwork
  
• Unique and varied mechanics
  
• Relaxing gameplay

• Some players might find it too easy

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