Cerberus: The Puppy is a good game that needs work on visuals

Being a sucker for all sorts of mythology, the game Cerberus: The Puppy immediately caught my attention with its title. I was thinking it was going to be something about a flaming three-headed puppy with a spiked collar and thick chains, but since it was designed for ‘kids (seven or older) and casual gamers’, something told me it wasn’t going to be that way.

Cerberus: The Puppy is actually a puzzle game by Vietnamese game development studio Guava 7, but I guess should’ve picked up on its casual and kiddy slant as soon as I read ‘The Puppy’ in the title.

The Story: What are we getting for who again?

Cerberus is a three-headed mythological puppy that lives in a seemingly normal backyard, which I assume is owned by Hades since the grown-up Cerberus guards the gates of hell in Greek and Roman mythology. The lord of the underworld’s treasure has been stolen and it’s up to Cerberus to retrieve it. Thankfully, the culprit left traces of himself behind in the form of glowing spheres, so Hades sets Cerberus on the trail of the stolen treasure, which leads into ‘Hades’ Endless Field’. However, Cerberus isn’t all that clever so it’s up to you to help him find (or make) a way to get the stolen treasure back.

Gameplay: Find a way or make a way

The objective of each level is simple. You have to get Cerberus safely to the glowing crystal on the map while using a fixed and limited set of tools per stage. These tools allow you to destroy terrain, use an umbrella to make Cerberus glide, add blocks to walk on, use a fan to levitate him for a while, or use portals to move him from one point to another. You set up these items and tools across the map and tap Start when you’re done. Only then will you figure out if you created a way for Cerberus to get to the glowing sphere or if you’ve just sent him to his death. Now does this remind you of any other game?

The first stages are quite simple, with hints and a small tutorial window popping up every time a new tool is introduced. The player is forced to use each new tool repeatedly to properly get the hang of it. The first few instances were far too repetitive for me, but it’s not really an issue, seeing as the game is also intended for kids.

Cerberus: The Puppy will give you a challenge in terms of its difficulty. The game will really make you think about how to get this three-headed puppy to certain locations on the map without getting him killed in the process. Still, I thought I got this thing down until I came to a stage where I had to bring him to two locations. As Cerberus fell to his death after I placed a block one tile too short, I wondered, “What would a seven year old do?”

Graphics and interface: More colors, please?

I’d say Cerberus: The Puppy is a promising game, but it still needs quite some work in the graphics and user interface department. It has to be made more understandable, especially if you’re hoping it will be played by seven year olds. I like how everything is neat, but the game needs to be more colorful and visually engaging, since it’s obviously meant to be something lively and fun. I was honestly surprised that it wasn’t as colorful as I expected, since children are part of Cerberus: The Puppy’s target audience.

On a whole, I felt that Guava 7 knew where they wanted to go with Cerberus: The Puppy but couldn’t quite get there. The visuals are plain, especially in the menu and the interface, and the little details that I was looking for, such as extra shades on the water or a more engaging layout for the opening screen, were missing, leaving it feeling like an incomplete drawing. I like how they tried to incorporate the buttons into the image, but it left a lot of empty space, leaving a generally bare overall impression. There isn’t even a title on the home page. While the in-game graphics are much better, I wish Cerberus had some animations for when he was idling, instead of just standing there while I tried to find a way to get him across the map.