'Hogtie' Mini Review

Developer: Alacrity | Platform: Switch | Playtime: 1:10

Sometimes an Indie just catches your eye, I can’t even remember where I saw the game but I’m pretty sure I bought it purely on its adorable key art. As it happens, it’s a delightful little puzzle game with some interesting depth behind the cute presentation.

At its core, Hogtie is a block pushing puzzler - there’s no story here to complicate things. Though, rather than pushing blocks you’ll be lassoing cute little pigs in an attempt to get them onto grassy patches. Things get complicated quickly, with oil that needs washed off with water, spring pads that launch the hogs, cacti that cut the rope and more – and that’s only in the first of three biomes. The game introduces new ideas and mixes them up regularly.

I appreciate that levels can be tackled in any order and there’s freedom to choose what you do or don’t do – I didn’t beat every level but I tried the vast majority of them. Progression is instead locked behind stars. Each level has three stars to earn and one is guaranteed by beating it. The other two are rewards for completing it in a certain number of moves. Getting three stars in a level unlocks a new cosmetic item for your cowboy or his horse but I never really bothered since the focus is primarily on the Hogs. Cute little addition though. I made sure I completed every level that I beat with at least two stars but I think you could get away with a mix of 1 and 2 star completions.

An easy recommendation to puzzle game fans and a perfect palate cleanser or rainy day game for more traditional gamers. Revolutionary? Absolutely not. Cute and fun puzzler? Hog yeah.