Phogs! from Bit Loom Games and Coatsink Games is a fun puzzle platformer with a charming art style that will grab your attention. Check our Phogs! review!

 

In Phogs from Bit Loom Games and Coatsink Games, you’ll be controlling a two-headed dog of sorts, with both connected at the belly. You will do this either in single-player or in local co-op with each player controlling one of the dog heads and their part of the single body they both inhabit. Thanks to their very stretchy belly, they’ll be able to run around each area, grabbing onto things, stretching to swing from spot to spot so that they can reach the exit as they help the other character they run into.

If you’re playing on your own, you’ll move each dog with the left and right analog stick, using the ZL and ZR buttons to stretch the left dog and the right dog and the L and R buttons to grab with the left or the right dog. The D-pad and the face buttons can be used so that each dog can emote. When playing with two players, each can take one of the Joy-Con, or one can use the Joy-Con, and the other can use the Nintendo Switch Pro controller. The game will show you the basics during a short tutorial segment, and you’ll quickly get the hang of things with ease.

 

Your journey will take you through Food World, where you’ll get to see a ton of fruits and vegetables, along with the always delicious pastries. You’ll explore Sleep World, where cuddly teddy bears and soft pillows will lead the way as you try to find the path towards the next section. Can you enjoy the dream-like setting before the alarm goes off? And then, there’s Play World, which might end up feeling a bit too packed for some since it’s definitely busier when compared to Sleep World.

As for the types of puzzles and challenges you’ll have to face n Phogs! – and without spoiling this wholesome experience – you’ll need to grab onto objects with one of the dogs as the other one latches onto something so that they don’t both fall over the edge. Or perhaps you’ll have to slowly but surely go up a hill while the wind blows against your efforts, as you take turns grabbing onto something as you swing forward to try and reach the next thing to grab onto. There are going to be switches to activate and levers to pull in unison, which is to be expected, but since the dogs are attached at the belly, there’s one particular puzzle type that brought a smile to my face: using the dogs as a hose! You can use one dog to grab onto a pipe, and the water will go out of the mouth of the other dog, which you can use to water plants to make them grow.

 

While exploring the different bite-sized areas of each level, you should keep your eyes open for any of the bonus collectibles you can find. What are these collectibles? Golden bones! These golden bones will be used as the in-game currency for purchasing the funny hats you can use to customize the look of the dogs! Everyone loves hats, right? Once you have enough golden bones, go into the store, pick the hat you want to buy, and grab onto the sides of the corresponding capsule to pop it open!

 

Phogs! is a very fun and charming puzzle-platforming adventure on Nintendo Switch that is easy to play on your own or with a local co-op partner, as you take on an increasingly more challenging set of stages. Other than a bit of slowdown in some stages and one time when the dogs ended up stuck on the ground as if they had dug themselves in there for no reason. Phogs! is out on Nintendo Switch with a $24.99 asking price.

Disclaimer
This Phogs! Review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Coatsink Games.