Viewing topic Chico and the Magic Orchards DX - nice little GBC-style native puzzle game

Chico and the Magic Orchards DX - nice little GBC-style native puzzle game

Pengling 29 Dec 2023

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I stumbled across this sweet little game by chance today, and after looking at it and its reviews I instantly bought it - at £3 in the Steam Winter Sale, I couldn't say no! Having just played the first half-hour on my Steam Deck (where it works perfectly), I felt compelled to give it a shout-out here on the forum, because it's a nice native Linux title that seems to have flown under everyone's radar. It was released in August of 2022, so sadly it's way too late to submit an article about it (with any luck I can do that when it gets a Steam Deck rating), but hopefully it'll get some attention here!

!Chico and the Magic Orchards DX 01
The game is called Chico and the Magic Orchards DX, and it's a top-down platform/puzzle game, about a cute little squirrel who must solve puzzles by rolling around a giant walnut. The nut can be used to push switches, activate pinball-bumpers, and battle bosses, and there are various gizmos and environmental factors that affect how you go about all of these things.

!Chico and the Magic Orchards DX 02
Its style is inspired by the Game Boy Colour - the game feels true to the late-90s handheld era, and offers Game Boy Colour, Game Boy, and Super Game Boy style palettes (some of which are available right away, some of which can be unlocked using an in-game currency that you pick up in the levels) and a toggle for a dot-matrix grid effect for the graphics, as well as a selection of borders based on various styles of Game Boy and Game Boy Colour hardware, along with some based on the game's promotional artwork.

!Chico and the Magic Orchards DX 03
Chico plays, looks, and sounds completely authentic when compared to games for the 1990s Nintendo handhelds, and, from what I can tell, is intentionally quite short for the same reason, so if you're looking for something bite-sized to play, you may well want to give it a look.

Last edited by Pengling on 29 Dec 2023 at 4:31 am UTC

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Linux_Rocks 29 Dec 2023

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I bought this a while back too. It's really cool.

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tuubi 29 Dec 2023

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t was released in August of 2022, so sadly it's way too late to submit an article about it (with any luck I can do that when it gets a Steam Deck rating), but hopefully it'll get some attention here!

I've seen plenty of articles on GOL about older games. Why would that be a problem? So many games get released every week that a few good ones will inevitably fly under our radars, and deserve a shout out whenever they're discovered. But that's just my opinion. Maybe Liam disagrees.

Anyway, thanks for the nice review. Seems like a fun little game. I'm actually starting to wish that all my games were short. The pile of shame just keeps growing despite my best efforts to chip at it.

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Pengling 29 Dec 2023

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I bought this a while back too. It's really cool.

Good to know I'm not the only GOL'er who's grabbed it.

Apparently it's due out on the Nintendo Switch soon as well, though that's less relevant to me personally than the fact that this is a native Linux title.

I've seen plenty of articles on GOL about older games. Why would that be a problem? So many games get released every week that a few good ones will inevitably fly under our radars, and deserve a shout out whenever they're discovered. But that's just my opinion. Maybe Liam disagrees.

That's a fair point, really.

It's just a "me thing", since I would feel odd submitting something after this much time, without something having happened to it recently. More than happy to let Liam or someone else take this one in the meantime if they feel otherwise!

Anyway, thanks for the nice review. Seems like a fun little game.

Thankyou!

It's more of a first impressions thing, since I've only done the tutorial and the first world, but it's such a nice little game that I really wanted to post about it while it's still in the winter sale.

I'm actually starting to wish that all my games were short. The pile of shame just keeps growing despite my best efforts to chip at it.

I usually prefer stuff that's on the shorter side, but this seems to happen regardless, haha!

Last edited by Pengling on 29 Dec 2023 at 10:10 am UTC

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