OCO [PC] | REVIEW

After starting life on mobiles devices back in 2019, the simple yet intuitive puzzle-platformer OCO has now brought its creative one-button conundrums over to PC. Admittedly, it’s the sort of game that wouldn’t normally appeal to me all that much to play at home – it’s one of those titles that feels perfect for quick playthroughs on my mobile when waiting around or on the go.

Somehow though, I’ve found myself addicted to its puzzling escapade, with the ingenuity of its puzzle design keeping me hooked to my laptop screen for ‘one more go’ over and over again. Add to that the level builder and sheer selection of community-built levels on offer, and players will quickly find its easy to lose hours to OCO’s satisfying gameplay loop.

Check out a gallery of screenshots below:

The basics of OCO are simple, with the player leading a small square across circular levels. There’s only one button to use in the game, which sees the square jumping in the trajectory of the direction that it’s moving. It is possible to change the direction of the square by having it bump into an obstacle in its path, whilst new level mechanics that are introduced as you progress through chapters can influence the square’s movement in a variety of ways. As for the player’s actions, though? You’ll just be jumping.

Each level is full of little collectibles that the player has to grab in order to progress, with each requiring some platforming prowess to reach. This might mean hitting a well-timed jump, using an obstacle to change direction, or taking a leap of faith and hoping you land in the path of the collectible. Don’t worry too much if you mess things up – levels are short and can be restarted quickly.

Whilst that might not sound all that thrilling on paper, the ingenuity of the level design ensures that OCO is a lot of fun to play. The circular levels are surprisingly varied with plenty of different platforming challenges thrown the player’s way, whilst pulling off pixel-perfect jumps to survive never stopped being satisfying. Whilst a lot of levels might initially seem simple, it can take some thoughtful planning to reach that last collectible that seems to be out of your grasp…

“What helps keep things interesting is the diversity of the new mechanics that are introduced in levels, with different coloured pieces of the environment doing different things.”

What helps keep things interesting is the diversity of the new mechanics that are introduced in levels, with different coloured pieces of the environment doing different things. Blue tiles launch you upwards, green tiles speed you up to help you jump further, red tiles kill you when touched, purple tiles send you floating across levels, white tiles warp you across levels, you can attach yourself to orange tiles… yeah, there’s a lot on offer. Whilst these are simple ideas, they’re integrated brilliantly into the level design and ensure that there’s a good flow of variety found throughout OCO. There’s always something new to consider, with each mechanic mixed together in creative ways to make for levels that can be challenging but are always fun to solve.

Players will earn points when completing levels that are spent to progress through the game, with additional points earned for completing levels in a quick time or by using as few jumps as possible. It can be difficult to nail all of these extra challenges in one go, so it adds a sense of replayability to the experience that will see players coming back for more. It might seem close to impossible to hit some of the targets these challenges set you, but there’s always ONE ridiculously clever way to approach levels that isn’t always obvious at first. It’s rewarding to figure it out, but you can probably expect a few frustrations here and there when you hit one jump too many or take a couple of milliseconds longer than you needed to.

“Best of all, your square leaves a trail of colours with every leap you take, leaving levels looking like some fancy Spirograph creation by the time you’ve completed them. It’s just fits the vibe of the game perfectly.”

Whilst the gameplay is engaging and will certainly keep you hooked in, OCO’s presentation also happens to be top-notch. Whilst a simple aesthetic is utilised, the amount of colours and effects on show ensures that each level remains a treat on the eyes. Best of all, your square leaves a trail of colours with every leap you take, leaving levels looking like some fancy Spirograph creation by the time you’ve completed them. It’s just fits the vibe of the game perfectly.

The soundtrack is also influenced by your actions, with your jumps bringing with them a string of beats to go along with the harmonic background tunes. There was nothing about the soundtrack that felt too catchy but, again, it felt like it fit in perfectly in the world of OCO.

It shouldn’t take players too long to get through OCO’s main levels, even if some of the later ones can be ridiculously challenging. Those who do want more from the game will be glad to see that community levels are available, with well over 70,000 to play right now. It’s an insane number (and they are of a varying quality), but it means that you probably won’t run out of things to do in the game. There’s a level editor included too, which allows the player to make and share their own levels. Admittedly, my creations didn’t match the ingenuity found elsewhere in the game, but it was still fun to tinker with. Add to that the daily challenges and the leaderboards to compete with other players, and you’ll quickly find there’s a TON to invest yourself in within OCO.

Developer: SPECTRUM48
Publisher: SPECTRUM48
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://oco-game.com/