This week’s Try-It Tuesday falls on April Fool’s Day, so I wanted to play something fun and silly.
CHUCHEL is a 2018 point-and-click comedy adventure game that reminded me a bit of Alice in Wonderland, Adventure Time, Loco Roco, Spongebob, Centaur World and Terry Gilliam’s wacky Monty Python animations. It’s got old-school Muppet energy, with cute and/or creepy critters, catchy tunes and loads of humor.
I laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed this indie game by Amanita Design, the Czech developers who also made Machinarium, another game I’ve been wanting to play. Since playing CHUCHEL, I’ve also added their games Pilgrims and Happy Game to my wishlist.
Beneath the silliness, though, CHUCHEL is a parable of life. Chuchel and his frenemy Kekel are constantly fighting each other to compete for a limited resource (a cherry they call “gizzabub”) which is constantly being manipulated by a larger, more powerful force in the shape of a giant black hand (God? capitalism? government?), enticing them to constantly chase after the object of their desire while also punishing them for doing so. Eventually, we find out that the malevolent force, which resembles a big, hairy drain clog, has been hoarding thousands of cherries all along. But the pair learn to work together to change the drain clog monster and share the cherry.
At first, I thought maybe I was reading too much into it, but then there was a level where the drain clog actually offered Chuchel and Kekel a red and blue pill, and that’s a little too on-the-nose to dismiss.
This video includes levels 1-8. There are 30 levels total and I’ll be playing those in upcoming videos. Total play time is about two hours, depending on how long it takes to figure out each puzzle and how much you goof around.
I found most of the puzzles and gameplay to be easy, but there were a handful that stumped me for a few minutes. I don’t think CHUCHEL is meant to be super challenging though, just funny and fun.
The game is normally $10 on Steam but I got it on sale for $2.99.
Since it’s a Czech developer, I thought maybe the name might mean something in that language. So I checked Google translate and “chuchel” means “he snorted.” “Kekel” means “he cackled.” Also, the pronunciation is more like “KHOO-khill,” not “CHOO-chill,” if Google is to be believed. So, that’s how I say it in my videos.
However, I only found out AFTER playing the game and uploading my videos, that the official pronunciation is “chuh-chull” according to the game’s one-year anniversary video from the developer. Dang it!
CHUCHEL is rated “E” for everyone and PEGI 3. There are a few bits of potty humor and a lot of cartoon violence (like the original Bugs Bunny cartoons). I think the only thing that would make it unsuitable for children is that a few of the puzzles are a bit complex and might frustrate them. But it would be a great game for a child and parent to play together.
~ J.L. Hilton
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