Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective (Switch) Review
Release Date: July 15, 2021
Publisher/Developer: Pixmain/Darjeeling
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), Steam
Price: $11.99
Pierre the Maze Detective is a series of illustrated books in the vein of Where’s Waldo—insanely packed and detailed environments in which to find a myriad of things. As a video game, it opens up a new dimension for maze hunters. On paper, tracing your finger through the map to the destination is fairly linear, but in video game form it allows dynamic pieces: one-way guards that only let you enter a zone but not exit, forcing you to find another way out, moving enemies you have to actively dodge to get around, or grand flights across mazes after making it to destinations, like gliding from one landing pad to another on the back of a giant bird. A virtual playground also “keeps track” of these rules for you, something that simply can’t be followed on paper with any guaranteed rules.
Designed primarily for younger children, Pierre’s story is rather simple: the devious Mr. X has stolen the Maze Stone which causes the entire city to turn into mixed-up mazes. Pierre has to find his way through to chase Mr. X, finding hidden stars, chests, and secret papers along the way. Ignoring the knicknacks, one can speed through the maze fairly fast, but the joy is in the completion.
Each level is connected by cute comic book style animated scenes, narrated by Pierre’s assistant Carmen. Mr. X deviously slinks away, and Pierre must find his way through to find him. Many times you will run across icons that show interaction. Some are for fun little animations while others give out collectibles. While it doesn’t really advertise it, Labyrinth City does auto-save after major finds or big progress in the maze, always having “continue” be the furthest place in the latest maze.
While the game is fun for lighthearted hunting, it’s a bit of a cross to have a set collectible list with no hints, no “start near the area that the one you missed is”, or no reward for actually finding them all short of static collectibles on a shelf in the main menu. Completionists will be torn, as there is a lot to do, but no “pat on the back” for a job well done.
Like I said though, the animated aspect of a digital version of the paper mazes does add some unique modifiers. Sometimes there are some frustrations: a character may be standing and waving his arms, which successfully blocks a maze route, whilst elsewhere another character can be walked behind. In the end you aren’t terribly annoyed; it’s not like you have to go down several alleys to get to the block, and you can usually get back to the other zones rather quickly. Just something I wish there was consistency to. The game does hit it’s peak in a haunted mansion, as every time you hit a checkpoint things move, upending what you thought was happening the first time through.
As a fun $12 title for it’s target young audience, Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective is a wonderful diversion from the norm. It’s a nice relaxing diversion from traditional games, and has plenty of little arcadey mini-games mixed in the middle of the mazes. Collecting is fun, I just wish something came of it all. If you are familiar with and enjoy the books that started this series, Labyrinth City is a can’t miss and perhaps the best way to experience Pierre’s adventures.
Pros:
-Plenty of mazes and things to find
-Easy controls (even allows touchscreen simplicity on Switch)
-Beautiful drawings that are highly detailed and especially fun to look at now that they are animated
Cons:
-Not much replay value unless you just absolutely love the mazes
-A few discrepancies in “universe rules”-what can be walked behind?
-Collection is cool, but doesn’t mean anything, and missing something just means do the level over clicking everything
Special thanks to Pixmain/Darjeeling for providing a code for review!