Common Sense Media Review
By Chad Sapieha
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Indie game wonder is a fountain of brain-stretching ideas.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
FEZ
What's It About?
FEZ's champion is a marshmallow-like creature named Gomez who lives in a two-dimensional world. He and his fellow villagers are ignorant of the existence of a third dimension, blithely dismissing the concept of objects like cubes as pure fantasy. However, our pixel-y protagonist acquires a new perspective on things when he dons the game's titular tasseled hat, which allows him to rotate his once flat environment by 90 degree increments. Players flip through the world's four sides at the tap of a button, revealing a bounty of hidden doors, platforms, and ledges. The catch is that the world remains flat while viewed from any one side. Platforms hovering in front of or behind the plane on which our fluffy white hero stands become flattened and part of a single plane. Trying to use words to describe this inherently visual mechanic -- which is used to create a seemingly never-ending stream of clever environmental puzzles that must be overcome in order to complete your objective of collecting scores of golden cubes -- is difficult, but the game is surprisingly intuitive when experienced firsthand.
Is It Any Good?
There is no shortage of things to like in this long-in-the-making indie wonder. Its dimension-shifting shtick creates a wave of satisfyingly brain-breaking concepts that seems never to stop rising, making for a profoundly compelling puzzle/platforming experience. And it looks lovely. Its old-school, 16-bit aesthetic is composed of beautiful pixel art backgrounds and animations as well as a lush score constructed of surprisingly atmospheric retro bloops and bleeps.
The map system can be confusing, which makes it tricky to navigate the game's vast web of levels. And you can expect to run into a few annoying bugs -- always a risk when playing a game designed by just a handful of people rather than a large studio. However, scraping up against the occasional jagged edge is acceptable if it means getting to the next consummately-crafted bit of platform and puzzle play. Make no mistake; FEZ is something special.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about games that focus on puzzles rather than fighting. Which do you prefer: challenging your wits or testing your reflexes? What is your favorite game that involves no fighting?
Why are so many innovative games presented as downloads?
Game Details
- Platform : Xbox 360
- Subjects : Hobbies : collecting
- Skills : Self-Direction : achieving goals , set objectives , work to achieve goals , Thinking & Reasoning : logic , memorization , solving puzzles
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : Microsoft
- Release date : April 13, 2012
- Genre : Adventure
- Topics : Adventures
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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