Common Sense Media Review
By Chad Sapieha
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Deeply imaginative platformer with some mild violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Puppeteer
What's It About?
PUPPETEER puts players in control of Kutaro, a boy turned into a puppet, who is on a quest to escape the grasp of the Moon Bear King. His puppet head is removed in the game's opening moments, forcing him to find replacements that confer various abilities as he journeys through fantastical environments set on a puppeteer's stage. He also quickly finds a pair of magical scissors that help him navigate his strange surroundings. He can use them to clip his way through objects, which means the shears act as a way to climb around obstacles and even eradicate some enemies. Throughout the adventure players can also control a second ghostly creature that hovers around the environment and investigate suspicious objects on set, shaking them to potentially reveal crystals or new heads.
Is It Any Good?
Puppeteer shares elements of similarly imaginative games ranging from LittleBigPlanet to The Gunstringer, but in the end it's an experience all its own. The memorable puppeteer's stage setting has been wonderfully realized, with details such as curtains, stage boards, and the oohs and ahs of an invisible audience making it feel like the action might really be part of an elaborate puppet show. And the beautiful, sometimes nearly photorealistic graphics are delightful, helping fully transport players into this fantastical world.
Happily, the action is a match for the setting. Clipping your way around paper and cardboard environments and enemies is a novel way to navigate the world and fight boss battles. Using your ghostly kitty to explore and interact with surroundings is also fun. Puppeteer is not without fault -- frequent narrative scenes are sometimes overlong and intrusive, and Kutaro's head-swapping ability feels underused -- but the overall product is something that fans of platformers won't want to miss.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about fantasy. Settings like the one in this game may seem at first too far fetched to suspend the player's disbelief, and yet they can be deeply compelling. What elements are required to capture a player's attention and make them feel invested in such plainly fanciful stories and their equally unrealistic heroes?
Families can also discuss the art of the puppeteer. Have you ever tried to manipulate a stringed puppet? Do you think it would be hard to make its movements properly emulate those of a real person? Would you rather be the puppeteer or the person who crafts puppets and sets?
Do you think that this game is highly creative? Why or why not?
Game Details
- Platform : PlayStation 3
- Subjects : Arts : playing
- Skills : Creativity : imagination , Thinking & Reasoning : strategy
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Sony Computer Entertainment
- Release date : September 10, 2013
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic )
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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