Bluey: Quest for the Golden Pen Review – Review
Finally, a game for preschoolers that read at a third-grade level.
Bluey is a smash-hit show for young families known for its tender, accessible, and realistic handling of the emotions that come with growing up. In an Australia full of dog people, Bluey and her little sister Bingo use their big imaginations to make sense of the world around them. Meanwhile, parents Bandit and Chili do their own growing, as they learn to balance indulging in make-believe and their own adult responsibilities. The duality has launched Bluey out of its target demographic and into a more general audience. If only that crossover appeal had been applied to Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen.
Bluey’s latest adventure is a top-down collect-a-thon set across a series of hand-scribbled fantasy lands. Dad fills the villain role, ruling the kingdom with his gold pen, while Mum draws the levels and gives quests. “Bingoose” (half Bingo, half goose) floats close by, honking at map markers. Bluey starts with a wand that can move blocks and press switches but has different moves for each level, like a glide or rocket boost. Puzzles are simple introductions to basic video game concepts, like platforming or mazes, with a gentle difficulty curve and no fail states. Each level has the same four collectibles: beads hidden in flowers, tiny creatures, kids playing hide-and-seek, and goose food. The first three collectibles award more goose food, and enough goose food lets Bingoose lay a magic egg that hatches into whatever MacGuffin placates the villain blocking the path to the next level.
Each level has a different theme but carries the core collectibles and gameplay loop throughout. Bluey needs just a fraction of a level’s goose food to proceed to the next, so more difficult collectibles can be left for later. The themes are generally recolors of the same backgrounds and don’t offer memorable landmarks. Every NPC is a variation of the same gnome, and while they have cute dialogue, the wordplay and grammar puns ask for the reading ability of someone old enough to play games with more depth.
Cutscenes between levels look and sound like clips from the show as the family teases and taunts each other about the next part of the adventure, but this is not some lost episode. Bandit’s constant one-upsmanship, while a convenient excuse to add yet another level, has him come off as much more of a bully than in a traditional Bluey story. Every scene takes place at the same table with the same topic of conversation, but the zingers and voice acting do nail the feel.
Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen is an unremarkable, mindless, repetitive bore only notable for its Bluey branding. The plot, a new story by the show’s creator, is barely a premise as the characters show no growth narratively or mechanically. Very young players might be entertained but will need a parent or older sibling to read the dialogue in this entirely single-player adventure. The touch controls from the original mobile release are here and work fine, though.
