Parents' Guide to Chuchel

This is a charming and delightful puzzle game that's perfect for all audiences. Lots of games and shows and movies claim to be "fun for the whole family," but Chuchel actually is that: Non-players will get sucked into the vibrant, goofy, noisy, and joyful game world by shouting out suggestions of ways to solve the puzzle or just things to try. Although your goal on each screen is basic -- try to get the cherry -- the downright silly animations and audio cues are so rewarding that you'll inevitably want to see what every interaction does and sounds like. It's all a vivid burst of fun.

This game is clearly designed with younger players in mind. Although the puzzles aren't always what you would call easy, it's never hard to figure out what you're trying to do. Yes, you're trying to get a cherry in each stage, but the sparse screens lay out only what you'll need to interact with to solve, and all you need is a small bit of patience for the trial and error ahead. The "toughest" puzzle was spread across two screens, where you had to figure out what trees to shake in sequence so that you could eat fruits in the right order. The only real issues with the two-hour game are relatively minor: The mouse and keyboard start to feel inadequate for the delicate control that's being asked of you -- those levels would be a snap on a touch device like a phone or tablet, but can verge on annoying on traditional setups. There are also some levels deployed for variety's sake, ranging from racing to re-creations/interpretations of classic games like Tetris. They change up the pace but also feel out of place, because none of them provide or provoke as many laughs or as much fascination as the rest of what's here. It's hard to recommend Chuchel any more thoroughly: It feels like watching a hilarious kid's show.