Kotoro Review

A minimalistic puzzle game that's focused on exploration as well as one very key concept, Kotoro is an enjoyable experience. With numerous different modes to tackle, there's generally something different to do at every turn.

Incorporating something that we're taught as children - how colors mix together - Kotoro is easy to get to grips with. Essentially, one uses a finger to drag the translucent orb around, capturing the colored orbs that are elsewhere. Each level requires one to end the stage with just one orb left of a specific color. Sometimes this is simply solved by matching up two orbs to change to the new color, but things do get trickier.

Divided into 5 chapters covering 60 puzzles in all, there's a fair bit of variety. Each chapter is slightly different. One set, for instance, adds a timer with the orbs vanishing soon after first appearing and thereby requiring some fast reactions. For the most part though, time isn't of the essence elsewhere. Instead, analytical skills are essential with the trick being figuring out how things change.

Some stages offer orbs that only take in one color but then spit out a completely different color. Others include orbs that steadily change color, requiring some timing skills to hit them at the right moment. There's always a handy restart button, instantly taking players back to the start of the problem though.

Kotoro doesn't go into huge depth when it comes to explaining what everything does, or how different orbs can mean different things, but that scaled back approach works for it. It's fun to figure things out and really doesn't take much effort, unlike the puzzles themselves.

As a relaxed experience that's simple to dip into, Kotoro is quite satisfying and oddly quite calming.