Papo & Yo

Visualizing the unjust battle of a boy with the demons of child abuse, Papo & Yo tells a warm, but tough story of growing up, while carefully dodging cheesy clichés. [June 2013]

Quotation forthcoming.

Vander Caballero's puzzle-platformer isn't important because of its puzzles or its platforms – it's important because of what it is outside of that, an autobiographical fable that goes uncomfortably deep into a cycle of abuse and addiction and its long-reaching effects on a naive young boy.

It's an average game because the puzzles are too simplistic despite their stylish appearance, and there's nothing that compels you to repeat the journey. As a story, however, the title succeeds in giving you an amazing journey as it deals in a subject matter that few games ever attempt.

Quotation forthcoming.

While it can’t compare to living with an abusive parent, you do get an insight into what it’s like, and you get to experience a sliver of the emotions the creator went through. And that’s the unique strength games have. You understand those emotions a little better by feeling them yourself.

While the trivial difficulty is certainly a glaring flaw of the game, the overall experience of Papo & Yo is a memorable one; touching upon some themes that will hit close to home to many and giving everyone else in between something to think about long after the credits have rolled.

Papo & Yo is an original and unique game. It's not perfect but it's also imaginative and engrossing.

Papo & Yo should be commended and will be remembered for wearing its heart on its sleeve.

Papo & Yo is a unique game. It handles its themes extremely well, and the world is simply amazing to behold. Though the game is not without its faults, chief among them a lack of difficulty and challenge, Papo & Yo should be played at least once. Trust me, the journey will be quite worth it.

Papo & Yo deals in some fundamental truths about abuse, addiction, and maturity, and I certainly didn’t expect it. It may be short and easy, but it uses games to convey a psychological message that would be otherwise impossible without interaction.

The gameplay of Papo & Yo won't grab you, but its imaginative portrayal of a young boy's struggles makes it a worthwhile and special experience.

Overall, Papo & Yo is an interesting game — especially visually — and it’s also a memorable game, but I don’t know that I’d call it a good game. The puzzles are largely easy, the story elements are largely missing, and the playing time isn’t large at all. Still, Papo & Yo is only priced at $15, so it might be worthwhile to pick up just to try something different.

When you look at it it's a captivating tour along the foreign culture and child's phantasy that is in fact a sanctuary against real demons lurking behind three-dimensional puzzles. Playful and at the same time mature game experience, whose concept works only halfway through. But when it works, it pushes your emotions forward.

Achingly beautiful. [Aug 2013, p.85]

If you'd only look at the puzzles, Papo & Yo would be an average game. Maybe even below average. But it's the compelling story about a child that makes this game a success that's worth your time.

Papo & Yo is about growing into a person who can escape an abusive family situation, and that’s a theme powerful enough to overwhelm any number of small problems, if pulled off properly. The best parts of the game are when this theme is integrated directly into the action, whether that’s running from an enraged Monster or engaging in escapist fantasy with the platforming and landscape manipulation.

Your brain won’t be incredibly taxed by the puzzles...but the game moves at the right pace considering that the plot is what’s most important here.

Papo & Yo leaves me conflicted. On the one hand, I couldn’t be happier that Vander Caballero turned to video games as his means for self-expression. Unfortunately, the uninspired, frustrating gameplay adds nothing to the heartbreaking story contained therein.

It's a fairly short title, though, lasting only a few hours, and despite the parts surrounding the narrative being underwhelming, the story itself is impressively affecting and worth experiencing.

The on-paper premise of a traumatic childhood brought to life as a playable short story is brilliant, but the wounded execution can’t quite sell the emotional expression.