The Daily Click

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Author:	Hill Gigas
Added:	01/10/2008
Overall:
Average:	6/10

Here is a clever little puzzle game called Pork, where your objective is simply to clear a path for a group of pigs so that they land safely in a stew pot. This is so that you can have a proper meal before fighting aliens. The menus are clean, even though the controls could have been explained a bit better in the game.

Gameplay takes some getting used to. The concept is simple, you press against certain blocks to make them disappear, thereby clearing a path for the wandering pigs. The problem with the gameplay is that it's hard to be accurate about which blocks you clear, and difficult to clear them at precise moments. As you press against each block, you increase an invisible value in that block, and once that value hits a certain amount the block disappears. This causes problems when you want to clear a block above you, meaning you have to keep jumping and holding up and usually requires 3 or 4 jumps to clear it. It also causes problems when you are trying to clear a stairway for yourself to get back to upper portion of the level. When trying to create a zigzag path to climb, you have to jump up and hold left or right, often clearing the wrong blocks or too many at the same time. I think this game would be much better served to let the player press a button to instantly clear the block instead of having to press against it for a while. This would make it easier to time events, clear paths, and be precise about path creation and planning. If there was a target of some kind to highlight the block you are targeting with the arrow keys, then a button to press to clear it, I think it would triple the playability of this game as a puzzle game.

Graphics are colorful and cute. They are simple, but then again so is the basic concept. Each level basically consists of the same tile over and over, so it might have been nice to have more scenery and more interesting background images. The graphics work well as they are, but could be improved.

I didn't hear many sound effects, but there is a music track. The music track is nice and soothing, and plays from level to level. Variety in the music would help distinguish one level from the next, and adding some simple sound effects would add to the experience.

Lastability will be rather high if you have a few hours to kill and enjoy Lemmings style games. You get to keep trying over and over again which is very nice, so it's really all about frustration factor. The controls can feel a bit slippery at times, and learning how to clear the right blocks can take practice, but it can be done.

Overall, this is an enjoyable puzzle game with a fun concept and a cute storyline. I think with some tweaks to the controls and graphics, this could become a very fun puzzle game in the vein of Lemmings. Recommended for puzzle/Lemmings fans.