Push Morty Push Review

Patience is not a virtue. Well, okay, it’s not MY virtue. In my personal life, patience is a concept that I struggle to attain. So what if my mother is ALWAYS 15 minutes late? I’ve learned to survive by tricking her into believing that dinner reservations are at 6:15 instead of 6:30, or that the movie time is at 1:00 when it is actually at 1:30. Personal issues aside (okay, not really), I tackled Push Morty Push, which is a universal app based on the Japanese game “Sokoban”, with my usual enthusiasm and idealistic bent.

The home screen is simple to navigate. It provides a top-down point of view on the physical game and on its title character, Morty. It also offers the options of “continue quest,” “begin from scratch,” “free play,” and, well, “options.” I began to simply play around with the game in the “begin from scratch” mode. I seemed to be succeeding, as I was visually and audibly rewarded with flashes of brighter colors and sounds that indicated positive things. The initial problem I had with this game is that I had no idea what I was doing to earn these Pavlovian rewards. The game dropped me in the middle of a room, where I worked on navigating through obstacles by making Morty push.

The character Morty is cute and appealing, as is the general appearance of the game. Push Morty Push could potentially or ideally be a relaxing way to spend some free time. Several reviews noted its “addictive” properties. For me, if addiction is about abusing myself, it could be rewarding in a certain sense. I happen to prefer to reward myself with Ben and Jerry’s - just sayin’.

Push Morty Push provides no instructions on how to play the game; nor does it provide a tutorial. I attempted the “free play” option and received some apparent rewards (again via happy dings and bright flashes of seafoam green light), but I neglected to earn points or propel myself to the next level. A feature of the game that did encourage me to keep at it was an arrow at the top of the screen, which allowed me to undo my previous moves. Also, with the “begin from scratch” mode, I was able to rearrange the room/setting, and that enabled me to become unblocked.

I can see the drive that others playing the game may have to push Morty to the finish line. The game itself and the object of the game is essentially constructed of various puzzles that move in sequence from room to room until the highest level is obtained by the player. The left brain could potentially be exercised and give me the ability to recognize mathematical patterns and develop untapped spatial skills. I see the benefits of Push Morty Push as a visually pleasing game for players who enjoy virtual puzzles. I may be impatient, but open-mindedness? I have that in spades.