Rochard

This is a charming, incredibly well designed title with a truckload of replayability (still a rarity for smaller downloadable games). Don't miss out on this in the glut of "holiday" releases.

Rochard the man may be ordinary, but the adventure he stars in is anything but.

Rewarding physics-based puzzles. [Christmas 2011, p.87]

Rochard is a thoroughly enjoyable game that I look forward to playing again. Not every part of it won me over, but none of it was bad. It was refreshing to play a game with an everyman main character, and even after finishing the game, I can say I still want to be a space miner.

It's really a shame that Rochard hasn't been advertised or promoted anywhere near as much as it deserves, but don't let Sony's oversight stop you... players seeking a fat-free experience with rock-solid fundamentals, polished production levels and cleverly engaging gameplay can hardly do better than this.

If you like side-scrolling platformers, you should get Rochard. Immediately.

Good action platformer with a gravity manipulator (aka G-lifter) and a real like physics to play with. The puzzles are clever and the difficulty curve is near perfect. [Oct 2011]

Enjoy Rochard as it was intended, and let it bend your mind a bit. You won't be sorry you did.

Rochard delivers great side-scrolling gameplay, inventive puzzles, a phenomenal soundtrack, and a fun visual style.

These small complaints don't ruin the game's larger experience. Rochard's humorous dialogue, intriguing setting, and clever puzzles round out a package that is as unique and special as its titular hero.

Rochard takes the somewhat-familiar puzzle-platformer genre and puts a unique spin on it. The gameplay is very well-done, and the controls are usually great, with only a couple of issues.

Rochard is a good side-scrolling adventure game with inventive puzzles and fun visual style.

A relatively lengthy, challenging, satisfying adventure that requires us to use our heads as well as our fingers.

The story of the unusual hero Rochard is not a legendary one, but Recoil Games does deliver an interesting puzzle game that will easily keep you entertained for a few hours. [Nov 2011, p.96]

Puzzles were never too frustrating, and Rochard's witty commentary really worked, despite his shoddy southern accent. [Dec 2011, p.69]

Rochard is a very good side-scrolling adventure game. It puts up a well-balanced mix of combat and puzzles despite the dampened focus on exploration. The controls may be finger-bending at times, but it is a looker and has a great soundtrack to boot. It is a short adventure that's fun to experience. At $10, it's a game that adventure fans should play without hesitation.

John St. John, pretty visuals, and a great story to get behind, Rochard is a sleeper hit. Learning how to long jump in low gravity or just launching grenades through five different force fields to destroy one small piece of metal for a trophy gets my fingers itchy. Another great game to play, but who am I to tell you. Figure it out for yourself. Alabama.

Rochard is a charming romp through space with interesting ideas which, while not entirely original, are executed and pieced together well for an enjoyable final product. We'd love to see what they have in store for the inevitable sequel.

Sure, the story is predictable and the humor is definitely not for everyone, but when the platforming and puzzle solving is this fun you won't really mind.

The story is forgettable but the puzzles paired with the ability to control gravity make for addictive gameplay.

It's a refreshing, perfectly sized game that squeezes the fun puzzle process, of learning and exploiting the rules, into tidy little rooms.

The puzzles in Rochard are challenging without being unnecessary frustrating and find the right balance. Every so often that balance disappears with chaotic shooting sections.

Rochard is a good game that could have been awesome. The premises are great, thanks to a lot of intriguing puzzles and the ability to manipulate the gravity in many ways, but things get worse very soon.

What the game lacks in exploration (there is a little, but not as much as, say, Metroid) and fun combat, it more than makes up for in pace and puzzle-solving satisfaction.