GAME CLEAR No. 289 -- Öoo

Öoo (2025, Multiplatform)

Developer: Nama Takahashi, Hachinos
Publisher: Nama Takahashi, AMATA Games (console)
Clear Version: PS5
Clear Platform: PS5
Clear Date: 3/31/26

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Why should I care?
Bomb caterpillar cute.

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Böoom

Wow! What a perfect little puzzle platformer. You control a cute segmented caterpillar whose non-head segments are bombs. You’re eaten by a bird and must find your way out of its labyrinthine innards.

At first, you can wriggle along the ground, and that’s it. You can’t even jump. You obtains your first bomb segment early on, though, and you can place and detonate it at will to propel yourself elsewhere. After exploding, it returns to your body, ready to be placed again.

You’re stuck with just the one bomb for awhile, and the number of little puzzle rooms it’s possible to solve with just that is quite impressive. The bombs interact with different environmental features differently, and the game does a good job of exhausting the ways you can navigate its world without ever belaboring any particular movement trick. This remains true once you acquire your second and final bomb segment. The puzzles naturally get a bit more sophisticated, but they are seldom frustrating. They’re tricky enough to make you feel clever for solving them, but they rarely vex.

The rhythm of the game is very satisfying as well. The game is split into several distinct areas, each with its own color palette and vibe. Generally, when you enter one of these, there is an immediate fork in your path. One direction is pretty approachable, and the other may seem impossible at first. The easier one always leads to a dead end, but by the time you return to the fork (with convenient fast-travel), you’ve been taught more about the environment and the bombs. Using this knowledge, the way forward becomes clear.

In this way, the game is similar to other instances of the genre like Outer Wilds. You’re never mechanically blocked from going any particular way, but you have to know certain things are possible. I was never genius enough to skip any of the “tutorial” branches, but I imagine some folks have managed. I’m sure that feels awesome.

I shouldn’t neglect to praise the adorable pixel artwork by Hachinos. Takes a great mechanical concept and brings it to life as cutely as possible. Little Öoo wriggles around to the tunes of a low-key but pleasant soundtrack as well. And you’ll never tire of the punchy explosion sounds.

After about 2.5 hours, I had finished this game. I was impressed by how deeply it had managed to explore its simple ideas. Its pacing and runtime both felt perfect. It’s rare to be able to praise both restraint and thoroughness at once, but that’s what’s been managed here.

For me, it was a perfect, brilliant little palate cleanser after 80+ hours with Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, and I’m quite interested in checking out Takahashi’s other work.