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OhNoo Studio and Smile’s “Tsioque” is a point and click adventure game, much in the mould of “Broken Sword“, although with a darker comedic twist (your enemies have many ways of dying – quite a few of them are very funny, and it’s not always through your efforts).

“Tsioque” is very nicely animated, and the game’s soundtrack is really good and fitting.

As for the game’s story, it starts off like this: When your mother decides to lead an army, the court magician seizes the opportunity to take over the court – with imprisoning you being the first order of the day.

Tsioque’s sound effects and voice acting is limited, but they are appropriate.

Sure, it may take a fair while to work out how to get out of there, and does show one of the few problems with the game. For example, a lot of the puzzles you face require either timing to be able complete successfully, or repetitive actions, and there isn’t any help of what you actually need to do.

Tsioque’s gameplay is on point, as the game keeps on being fun, interesting and creative throughout the whole game.

Well, to make a long story short. It was only through pure luck that I managed to get out. Fortunately, most of the puzzles after that are rather more logical – at least up until you get to the castle court.

“Tsioque” is like a mix of f “Dragon’s Lair”, “Gobliiins”, “Monkey Island”, “Discworld” and “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis”.

The second problem with the game is that some of the objects you need to collect are very small, and with no pointer change if you move over them, you may end up having to click on everything in sight, just in case.

However, items can’t be combined, which makes things simpler, although at a loss of being more logical.

There are plenty of puzzles to be solved and adventures to be had in “Tsioque”.

So whilst the animation is very nice in the game, it can also get annoying (especially if your character has a distance to walk) as the animation used to move between scenes can’t be skipped (nor is there any fast walk).

The humor is another thing that really makes “Tsioque” shine (the humor from the “Monkey Island” series comes to mind).

The protagonist is pretty much silent – the main villain is nicely voiced whilst all other enemies just have standard chirps and small lines.

There are the occasional mini games, the dash across the ramparts is good fun, but the sewing one is rather tedious. Fortunately, you can skip that one.

You get a lot of value for your money in “Tsioque” with no doubt. Especially since you could buy the game for as low as 9 Euros at the moment.

I would also like to point out one more nice thing with the game while I’m at it. You see, if you make a mistake and get captured, you get the option to restart at the same position as you were, with no lost progress. This enables you quickly re-try different approaches to a puzzle, and that adds more replay value to the game with no doubt.

“Tsioque” is with no doubt a really good and fun puzzle/point-and-click adventure game. However, there are some down sides to be found in the game. For example, it’s not always obvious about what you need to do. Furthermore, it can take too long to move from one scene to another one.

So, all in all, I have to say that “Tsioque” is a fun, creative and challenging point-and-click adventure game (despite the cons that I have listed in this review).

That’s also why I would recommend “Tsioque” to everyone who love puzzle and point-and-click adventure games. Especially since you can pick up the game for less than 10 Euros at the moment.

Pros:
+ Very nicely animated
+ The music is good
+ Sound effects and voice acting is limited, but appropriate
+ Reasonably priced

Cons:
– Not always obvious about what you need to do
– Too many puzzles require either repetitive actions or precise timing to complete
– Can take too long to move from one scene to another (or even complete an action)

Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound and music: 4/5
Controls: 3/5
Replay value: 2/5
Story: 3/5

tgg grade 4 out of 5

Verdict: 4/5
If you like point and click adventures (and have the patience to work through some of the more tedious puzzles), then you will certainly enjoy “Tsioque” with no doubt. As the lovely animation certainly gives “Broken Sword” a run for it’s money and the story is well developed, dark and funny. Simply put, “Tsioque” is certainly worth getting in a sale.

Title: TSIOQUE
Developer: OhNoo Studio, Smile
Format: PC
Genre: Point and click adventure
Resolution: User-defined
Release date: 2018-11-07
Difficulty: User-defined
Spent time: + 2 hours
Average grade internationally: 65% via Gamerankings.com
PEGI age rating: +12
Price: 9.94 Euros via Steam