It’s hard to find a puzzle game that strikes a good balance between novel, challenging, and achievable. While not ground-breaking, Pan-Pan: A tiny big adventure certainly achieves a decent mix of these elements.

The game’s story is a simple one: your spaceship crashes in a strange land. You wake to find that the locals have taken your ship and are trying to repair it. Unfortunately, the parts they need to fix your vessel are missing. It is up to you to find them, and so begins your quest. Your path leads through caves, over streams, and across deserts; careful observation of this environment will be essential to your success.

Most gamers will recognise at least some of the basic puzzles in Pan-Pan, but the game throws out enough roadblocks to keep them mostly fresh and challenging. Many of the puzzles are nicely satisfying, but some do not have an immediately obvious solution. Specifically, as gamers we have all learnt to identify cues in the environment that code certain things as significant: unusual textures, platforms, items in odd locations, item portability, and so on. This coding system is so universal that we even have memes calling it out. Unlike the vast majority of puzzle games, Pan-Pan attempts to subvert these expectations. For example, certain parts of the environment look as though they just should be part of some puzzle or solution. And yet, they aren’t, or at least not in the way we would expect. It was only after finishing the game that I could identify these as red herrings.

I personally loved this aspect of the game, as it meant I could not take the environment for granted. Because it was a challenge to work out which of the environmental cues were legitimate, there were times that I found myself struggling to work out what to do next. However, this probably warrants a disclaimer: I love getting stuck in puzzle games. To me, a puzzle game is only worthwhile if you find yourself thoroughly stumped at least once or twice, as it means the puzzles are complex and interesting. Naturally, whether a player will consider this a positive or not will come down to personal preference; I could understand this being a source of frustration. That said, Pan-Pan‘s answers are (usually) just within reach. This attempt to subvert our expectations leaves the gameplay feeling both familiar and fresh.

Thinking outside the box.

Fresh, also, is the game’s aesthetic. From the soundtrack to the graphics, every quirky detail in Pan-Pan has been chosen carefully to create an immersive world. Whimsical, soft tones create a visually gorgeous game: the colours are rich and the textures are simple. The little details, such as the sheen on the water as you step under the stream, are pleasantly surprising for a game whose outward appearance is quite minimalistic. I also loved the characters’ expressiveness. Their gestures clearly communicate relatable emotions, such as frustration and happiness. For this reason, Pan-Pan conveyed a surprising amount of feeling. For a game with such a simple story, this was a nice touch. From its gorgeous, stylised graphics to its characterisation, the visuals are one of my favourite things about this game.

The lovely graphics are accompanied by a soundtrack that shifts seamlessly as you move between sections of the map. Such smooth transitions in the music give each new area a distinctive feel, without disturbing the cohesion of the overall atmosphere. Likewise, the sound effects contribute to this ambience. However, some were admittedly a little jarring and felt out of place in an otherwise serene game. Players may also find the nonsense voices annoying after a while. Nevertheless, the soundtrack was on the whole very pleasant.

Open sesame!

Pan-Pan‘s controls are simple and responsive. Camera sensitivity can be adjusted, but the player controls cannot. For those who might find these controls a little too sensitive, however, this is unlikely to be an obstacle to the game’s completion. Pan-Pan does not rely on quick reaction times in order to be finished. Moreover, there is also the option of the touchscreen controls. These were particularly well executed and contributed to the positive experience of playing in handheld mode. Although I did enjoy playing handheld for the touch controls, docked mode allows you to appreciate the graphics far more than is possible on such a small screen. I did also notice the occasional frame rate drop, although these were minor.

An impossible jump.

This game is quite pleasant, if very short; I finished it in about three hours. Each puzzle has only one solution, and the story is too simple to draw me back for another playthrough. As such, Pan-Pan isn’t limited in its replayability, it’s lacking entirely – and I won’t be picking it up again.

Criticisms aside, Pan-Pan is not a bad game by any means. The puzzles are mostly interesting and the controls are responsive. However, where the game truly shines is in its atmosphere. Visually and acoustically, the world is beautiful, if deceptively simple at first glance. As the game rewards careful observation of the environment, appreciating Pan-Pan‘s atmosphere is very worthwhile. The game is too leisurely to be considered exciting, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, Pan-Pan is an unhurried game. It is a game to savour: slowly and quietly, but just the once.

If you would like to help us stay ad-free, please consider supporting us on Patreon! In the meantime, for another very original puzzle game, check out my review of Semblance. For something completely different, you might also like to read up on Ghost 1.0. And remember to follow us on Twitter to keep up with the latest (and greatest) Nindie News – you can find me here.