A Review of the ``Engacho!'' Video Game

I've chosen to review another fun puzzle video game playable on the WonderSwan handheld game system.

The context of ``Engacho!'' is a child being sent to his room and, apparently, fearing monsters that
chase after him; each monster exemplifies a form of toilet humour, shown when the player loses.  The
game requires no reaction time, and is purely a game of thought.  I'm aware of games which have used
similar puzzles in brief segments, but this is the one game I know based wholly around such puzzles.

Each stage has the player, a young boy, move across a field of connected tiles, from a starting tile
to an end tile, while avoiding the monsters which react to his movements.  There are four enemies in
the game, categorized by how they react: one who mimicks the player; two who mimick the player, from
both ninety degree rotations respectively; and one who goes in the opposite direction of the player.

Each level has a tile map and allows for a set number of steps in which to complete it, which serves
as a score.  The game is made much more complex with the rules of interaction between those enemies.
Enemies who move to the same space, in the same move and while facing the other, are caught in a bag
and no longer move until freed by another; otherwise, enemies can be tricked into killing each other
by causing them to collide; and enemies who collide with a sleeping enemy knock them over by a tile.

The enemies also have a range, past which they sleep and ignore the player, and these mechanics form
the basis for the entire game.  One of the basic tricks is, of course, for the player to move in one
direction that an enemy can't, then gaining leverage to manipulate the enemy more than was possible.

I've yet to beat the entire game, but it has several rooms of the house, and each room is divided in
twenty stages, with the twentieth a boss battle between the child and I believe his father; the goal
is for the player to have a monster collide with his father, while his father attempts to cause this
to befall the player, and these battles are played in a uniform room with the enemy arrangements and
intelligence of the father for the variety.  There's also a game mode that I've still yet to unlock.

Unlike the other WonderSwan video game which I've reviewed, GunPey, the core of this game seems very
easy to implement, with no special considerations for an optimal result.  It's a simpler game, which
is arguably more fun also, though more difficult to play and with more obscene graphics than GunPey.

I can recommend playing this game, if one can find it for purchase.  It's another fun waste of time.
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