There are box-moving puzzles out there and then there is FullBore...

I hope I won't sound very biased saying that FullBore stands a bit aside from most of such games. Granted, it did not invent absolute novelty in the old genre. Instead, it used a different approach to it. There is a quote floating out there, "metroidvania with boars". I guess you can say so, because FB features a lot of exploration aspects and freedom of movement. And more than that, a lot of puzzles with less platforming. You aren't forced to solve them (many of them are optional), but the way these placed and designed - simply attracts you like a butterfly to the light. What could be hard in simple box moving and dirt digging..?

Don't even get me started on puzzles, these are simply fantastic. They make so much sense that by the end of figuring out another one you will feel like a pure genius. They deliver insane amount of feel of accomplishment. Soon you will realize it is not about the gem or a secret you want to get or discover, it is about solving the damn puzzle that taunts you. And the most interesting part is that none of the puzzles require from you any special ability or an item - it is all knowledge and experience. The way blocks and boxes work or interact with each other and your understanding of this mechanism is the key to solve all the puzzles.

But hey, a fun gameplay is not the only thing FullBore can be proud of. Quite lovely and pretty 2D graphics with awesome lighting and "fake" 3D effect will catch your attention at once. They fit the game surprisingly well, just like an amazing soundtrack by "The Adjective Plural Noun". But this is something you'd better to experience yourself, rather then read about in in a sloppy review.

Long story short - FullBore was quite pleasant surprise of 2013 for me (The First Dig, part 1 of the game, was released earlier; Steam version features full game). It came out of nowhere and since then I fell in love with it. Really, how could you not love these adorable little boars?


You won't get bored with Full Bore.

Full Video Review here - http://youtu.be/Sha3pSRoKE4

Full Bore is a indie 2D puzzle platformer developed by three man studio Whole Hog Games. The game was Kickstarted just over a year ago to the tune of $16,383.Full Bore has lovely 2d 16 bit pixelated graphics that not only add a retro feel, but add a degree of both humour and charm to the title. Environments look great with some really well designed levels, nice use of lighting. Levels are colourful and vibrant and the whole game is easy to look at. The soundtrack of the game is also wonderful created by Miguel Acuña and the Adjective Plural Noun. It boasts a great variety of tracks that range from happy go lucky to dark and atmospheric.

The games controls are simple and easy to use, movement is controlled with WASD. The space bar is used to make the boar stomp, which is used for crumbling loose blocks of ground and for moving certain blocks. Sadly there’s no jump feature which on one hand is necessary for the way the game is designed but I personally would have liked one. One thing I like is that you get all the abilities you need in the game at the start, as levels increase in difficulty its all about using your brain rather than just using in game abilities.

Full Bore has three main elements to it's gameplay, puzzles, platforming and exploration. Full Bore isn't just a level by level platformer, you have a world to explore. By entering different doors and entrances you can go to different locations. To manage where you are and find your way around you have the handy tool of having a world map so you can track you way back should you need to. As you explore you'll come across computer control panels, books and characters, all of which you can interact with which will progress the games story, offer information and some funny jokes.

Full Bore is a highly polished indie title that is packed full of character, humour and a bloody good challenge. It brings back memories of playing Fez for the first time and I would certainly argue that its up there with Fez in terms of indie titles in the puzzle platforming genre. All in all if your a fan of puzzle platformers or just charming indie titles in general I would certainly recommend picking Full Bore up, there’s plenty here to get your monies worth and you'll get a laugh or two out of it.

Stands confidently alongside Escape Goat and Toki Tori 2 as a truly great puzzle platformer. I'm very glad to have backed it, and incredibly pleased and satisfied by the result. :)

After playing Toki Tori and Blocks That Matter I started to think that I dislike such games... but now I realize that Full Bore is simply the first good tile-based puzzler that I've played. And all the competition pales in comparison.

Notice that I didn't use the word "platformer". Well, that's because I associate the word with jumping, action, reflexes, etc. And that's not what Full Bore is about, don't be fooled by the trailers. Sure, there are a few places that require quick action, but you don't need any of the qualities required by typical platformers. The stop time+rewind feature mitigates this even more. Oh, and... you actually can't jump.
Full Bore is quite a pure puzzle game. Everything, including the character, is always aligned to the tile grid. And the puzzles... they are extremely well designed and all very different. It's just hard to imagine how someone could come up with such a variety of puzzles, while keeping the set of concepts limited and so elegant.
To be clear here, Full Bore is a difficult game, but never too difficult. To me the difficulty always seemed just perfect. Every puzzle felt rewarding. And I never got stuck for too long (taking a break always helped).

About the open world thing... The world map is a lot like the one you see in FEZ. But all the rooms also have "thumbnails", and connections between them are shown very clearly. Rooms where there is nothing left to do are indicated as well. A portal system prevents travel from being tedious.
And since I started this whole FEZ topic... It is clear that some inspiration is drawn from it, and yes, there are secrets in Full Bore. But finding them, and eventually completing the game 100% is something actually doable. Without guides, that is. All the secrets have good hints for them, and there definitely are no obscure and outright impossible to find secrets (unlike in FEZ).

Full Bore can easily give you 25 hours of gameplay (this is about the minimal time that you need to explore everything, if you don't look up solutions, of course). Since I knew right away that I was going for full completion, I don't really know how much time it would take to just complete the story, while mostly ignoring optional tasks. Maybe 5 hours, maybe 10. There is even a "preliminary" ending that may let you consider the game completed, if you so choose.

What is also very nice, you can never lock yourself out of something; no location, secret, ending or achievement is missable (well, to be honest, one achievement does explicitly require a separate playthrough, but don't concern yourself with this). Explore freely without worry.

Controls are simple. Redefinable. No problems with them.
Soundtrack is great.
Graphics are immaculate.

Full Bore deserves so much more love than it gets. Really is a hidden gem (haha).

★★★★★★★★★★

An instantly engaging puzzle game, with a unique personality, that boasts a lot of fun.