All images courtesy of Headup Games
All gameplay featuring Odiumar as the intrepid silhouette Toby!
Toby is a puzzle platformer game, developed by Lukas Navratil and published by the Germany based Headup Games. Headup is well known in the independent gaming sector for a number of mobile, PC and console games. Toby is listed as Lukas’ first solo project.
The game opens with the player, Toby, witnessing a kidnapping in progress. The victim, identified only as a Friend, is uncomfortably stuffed in a cage by a larger unnamed antagonist. Having been caught in the act, the perpetrator quickly flees the scene with his victim in tow. The chase, as they say, is on!
At it’s heart, Toby is a platformer. You will be required to run and jump, gauging distance and timing your landings as you progress through twenty-one levels. Along the way, you will encounter the standard platforming puzzles of moving targets and hidden traps. In addition, you will occasionally find yourself having to pull levers, break boards, stymie predators and flee from hostile environments. Your goal along the way is to free twenty-six of your Friends and ultimately confront the evil-doers!
Toby’s graphics are a silhouette style, inspired by games such as Limbo or Badlands 2. All characters are simple black silhouettes with shining expressive eyes, red for bad guys and white for Toby and the Friends. Backgrounds are colorful and provide a tone and enough detail to convey a picture of Toby’s world. The game’s music, though simple, does add to the overall experience. Sound effects are appropriate and synced well. Make sure you play with the sound up as at times it will provide clues for your progression.
Gameplay was a mixed bag. Toby’s puzzles were simple, only one gave me the slightest pause. Additionally, there were multiple times that my character got stuck on an edge or against a wall, which ultimately lead to my death. On the positive side, Toby’s platforming is very forgiving. Absolutely no pinpoint landings required here. Toby also features a level select, so ensuring that you rescue all of your hidden friends will not require replaying the entire game. This is a double edged sword, while you won’t find yourself replaying levels needlessly, it does make Toby a very short game.
For those of you looking for easy achievements, Toby is for you. This title has absolutely zero rare achievements. Even the dual ending achievements, the “good” ending and the “bad” ending, are not rare. The level select feature makes it easy to complete one right after the other. All in, you’ll likely have all of the achievements in under three hours.
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