Drag It Review

Drag It probably has one of the most self-explanatory game titles imaginable. It’s about dragging. That may sound repetitive but the game manages to find many different ways for players to drag. In fact, the game’s desire to stretch that one mechanic farther than it should go is what ultimately brings it down.

Drag It is a physics platformer where players attempt to move a flightless baby bird across the level by dragging various flexible bars. Some bars boost the bird forward when dragged back while others lock into whatever position the player chooses creating useful ramps. Players can also combat the occasional penguin enemies by dragging them out of the baby bird’s path or even flinging them off of the screen entirely. When the penguins attack the baby bird they leave it bloody and bandaged so giving those jerks what they deserve is especially satisfying.

With 40 unique and creative levels spread across four chapters, it’s clear that Drag It had some effort put behind it. It’s bright cheery music and adorable, sharply drawn cartoon visuals speak to that as well. Really, the biggest downside is the act of dragging itself, which is a shame considering how fundamental it is. It’s not that the touch controls are inaccurate. In fact, players can aim the baby bird with an incredibly high amount of precision. Unfortunately, the game too often holds the player to punishingly high standards. Most levels can be tackled easily enough but periodically players will reach an obstacle so tight that success feels like the result of fiddly, dumb luck instead of true skill. Granted, this sort of trial and error is inherent to physics-heavy games like this but compared to Trials or even World of Goo, which seems to be an inspiration for this game, something about Drag It’s more uneven difficulty feels more frustrating.

Still, the atmosphere is preciously cute and the level design overall is good enough to make Drag It worth considering. Birds got to fly.

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