I have a confession: I'm not a huge fan of puzzle games. A Tetris here, a Syberia there, but that is about it. I simply don't like games that often times appear too smart for their own good, making dastardly confusing, brain-teasing puzzles, just to infuriate me after the 30th attempt and yet still I can't solve the puzzle. And yet, despite that hatred, I found myself completely falling for Eets and its magical spell of puzzle bliss.

THE STORY SO FAR
If Eets is suffering in one department, it is in this one, as there is absolutely no story whatsoever to speak of. Why is Eets working his way through these puzzles? Is Eets even a he? What the heck is that little white creature with the two legs and ears anyways? Given that respect, I still can't punish the game for this fault, because if Tetris could succeed without a story regarding construction workers needing to position girders shaped in various patterns, Eets can work without a story as well, and it does.

GAMEPLAY
There is only one thing you need to play Eets – an index finger. In true casual game style love, Eets is extremely easy when it comes down to controls, as all you need to do is let that index finger hover over the mouse button, and left click – it can't get any easier than that unless the game just played for you.

The setup for every level of Eets is the same, with the game presenting you the environment layout with gaps you must traverse and obstacles blocking your path, the starting position of Eets, the finish line for the level (in this case a glowing golden puzzle piece), and finally the objects/powerups/gizmos you'll need to help Eets make his way from one place to the next. In some cases, all you need to complete a level is already on the stage, but most of the time the game gives you a collection of objects you must place onto the level, so that only then can Eets finish the level. I typically found myself having to use all the objects to properly complete a level, but the really skilled can complete levels without fully utilizing their objects, and if they are successful they even get a special achievement trophy, just like in an Xbox 360 game.

Once you get the objects placed in the level like you want, you then push the Play button and watch as Eets walks and jumps about, hopefully completing the level like you planned. Though sometimes you'll just sit back and watch as he hopefully gets to the end, an equal amount of time is spent fiddling with the environment at the same time, such as changing lights over when you need to, shooting chocolate chips, or popping out of rolling carts whenever it is called for (and all these actions are still pulled off with the left click button).

Like all puzzle games of this nature, Eets starts off extremely easy, with only a few environment contentions to worry about. In the beginning, you really only have to contend with Eets mood (displayed in the bottom left of the screen by his avatar) as he won't jump off a platform when he is scared (make him eat a green apple), will only hop a short ways when he is happy (eat a yellow apple or marshmallow), and can only successfully hurdle large gaps when he is angry (eat a red apple or shoot him with chocolate chips enough times). As you advance, you'll have to worry about pushable green marshmallows, marshmallows that inflate and hover when you expose them to light, pigs that shoot flying pig bombs, carts to roll in, arrows to change the direction of pigs and other shootable objects, mechamarshmallows that will knock you off the level, etc.

The game has a great learning curve, as you don't have to fully complete all the puzzles of a game world to successfully continue and move on to the next, but rather you only have to complete enough as listed on the main screen. Also, whenever you move onto a new world, you are always given a few easy trial levels, which help introduce any new environmental challenges that the upcoming levels use that the others didn't, meaning you'll never start a level without at least some idea how everything on your computer's screen is supposed to react.

The game also features a great community, which allows you to create your own levels, and let other people play your creations, as well as you play their own creations, essentially meaning that as long as people play the game and have a spark of creativity, you should always have something more to keep you coming back to the game.

GRAPHICS
The only thing on equal with Eets' gameplay is its lovely sense of style and whimsy. Unless the game is centered on a dark level, everything else is bright and cheerful, featuring a color palette so boisterous and friendly even Hello Kitty projects would have to shield their eyes. Eets, though simple in character design, is so cute for that exact reason, as are the apples and marshmallows with faces, and whales that will swallow you up. I was also surprised by the technical level of animation, as all the objects are animated amazingly well, with even some absolutely surprising moments, such as the first time a mechamarshmallow hits you or an object into the foreground or background, and the object's size increases or diminishes depending on the direction; very, very nicely done effect.

SOUND
Though the background music is reused a great deal throughout the levels, it is still a fun, flighty jazz number that eases you into the puzzle mentality perfectly, so there are no screeching guitars to take you out of the moment and forget what you were thinking about. Other sound effects, like Eets' little puppy dog like nips and exploding pigs, are all cute in their own way and reflect the game world exactly as it should be.

IN CONLCUSION
When a huge puzzle fan suggests a game for you, chances are they know exactly what they are talking about, or rather their love for the genre blinds them to the faults of a particular game and they would suggest anything they could get their hands on. However, if someone indifferent to a genre (such as myself), comes forward after spending time with a game and tells you how amazing it is, and gives it a perfect score, rest assured that game is something special. Eets is something special, and it most certainly does deserve your attention. Give the game a shot!

RATING:
Our Scoring System

To Download The Game Or Buy It Now