While my wife and I have played quite a number of terrific co-op games of different kinds over the years, I’ll admit that the humble co-op puzzler Bokura made an impression on us. Not that it was the best of the games we’ve played, just that its style of play and storytelling were both distinctive. On the puzzle front we spent quite some time in the game without being able to see what the other was doing, given the fact that we each played on our own screen. Throw in the pretty distinctive visual theming and it was a title that made an impression. 

For the most part I’m happy to say that this follow-up, Planet, has managed to do the same. Fundamentally both are very similar, with each player having their own screen and system, independent of the other. While we were able to work out getting connected to play, I’ll admit that we had to sort of stumble through that process and cross our fingers, the symbols without any help text didn’t do the game any favors in making that an easier process. Still, once we got going and hit the puzzles we were generally having a good time, and were also being challenged to think out of the box quite often, revealing that the developers don’t just stick to the same tricks and expect you to conceptually work through everything possible you can do, even if perhaps it involves attempting things you weren’t shown first.

Then there’s the game’s story, which once we compared notes was pretty wildly different depending on your character. A mix of family drama, alien parasites, and being given orders to make hard choices weren’t on our “playing a co-op puzzle game together” Bingo card, and that certainly spiced things up, though I will say it all seemed a bit bonkers. In terms of notes, I do wish that the character movements and actions weren’t quite so stiff, which would sometimes make tasks that should have been simpler just a little more aggravating, but for the most part the level of action stays at a low intensity level, so it was only periodically a critical problem.

Regardless of those minor shortcomings, this series is now proving to be worth keeping an eye on. The puzzles are more challenging than most, and quite a number of times we’d find ourselves stumped for a while and then find a solution while throwing out what seemed like crazy ideas. After reflecting on success we’d almost always see the logic in what ultimately worked, we just needed to really analyze what the overall picture was, what options were available to each of us, and then how to work out a solution with the tools available. The fact that the story at least made us laugh a bit at how crazy it was, simply added a sprinkle of fun on top.