Reviewing Hypergryph’s Popucom was an ordeal. It’s a strictly co-op experience for one, and my chosen partner (my son) was grounded from screens shortly after we first started. Then I had to travel. Whoops! But despite the logistical stress, all this time I haven’t stopped thinking about Popucom. And that’s not just because it’s a silly-looking title officially published in all-caps. It’s a really fun, interesting little game that combines the stumpy shooter style of Splatoon with… Puzzle Bobble? It’s a weird mix, for sure.
More bubbles, more problems

The premise is… one of the video game premises of all time. It’s not important. You’re on a planet covered in colorful monsters made of bubbles, and some weirdo at your home base is trying to build a bomb. You and your co-op partner are building that bomb by doing stuff out in the world, and buying neat clothes and stuff in the meantime. That’s the long and short of it, and there are more pressing things to worry about, like popping bubbles.
See, the actual premise (the gameplay part), is that each level spits you and your partner out with two colors each. You swap that color at the press of a button, which applies to your normal weapon and whatever tools also use colors (such as a shield). Nearly everything you interact with, from enemies to switches, have an assigned color that’s relevant to either you or the other player. Your job is to work together to make it through each level, find secrets, and eventually build that bomb.
Colorful depth

What’s impressive about Popucom is just how crucial cooperation is. Just looking at it, you’d be forgiven for assuming this is a “family-friendly” romp, that perhaps lets one more skilled player carry the other to wins. But no, if you aren’t communicating and working together to pass each piece of level, you aren’t going to succeed. Sometimes a challenge is as simple as shooting switches that alternate in color, so you can both cross a bridge. Sometimes it’s a big boss fight against a giant enemy with bubbles for limbs (hence the Puzzle Bobble nod). Other times you’re tossing around a ball that doubles as a teleportation anchor, or using drones adorably shaped like little cats piloting UFOs to drag boards across gaps like makeshift bridges. It’s all fun and cute, but every bit of progress demands effort.
It’s especially impressive as the tools you earn become a natural part of your kit, and the level design always keeps that in mind. A lot of games with similar puzzle-oriented concepts might focus on a tool for a while then move on to the next one, but Popucom is cumulative. You’ll use the drone, the teleporting gimmick, and your other tools from the moment you get them until the end. Sometimes an obstacle is more open-ended, while others have more focused solutions. But either way, Popucom makes sure you’re using every piece of the animal, and the outcome is a satisfyingly complicated, genre blend of an experience that’s constantly stimulating your brain.
Structural flaws

Flying in the face of all that is the barrier of entry. Since Popucom is a strictly co-op game, you need to have someone ready to run through this thing with you whenever you want to play. There’s no online matchmaking, so you either need a friend with the game, or a consistent local partner. And there’s no plugging and playing for the main campaign because of all the goodness I described earlier. Popucom has an element of investment to it as far as learning and mastering all the gimmicks. Matchmaking could have made the whole experience a little more approachable (albeit with its own quirks), so it’s a bummer it’s not an option.
It’s the same deal with the other way to play, a more party-like mode that requires three or four players. That means having other people ready to roll when you need them, with no randos to add to the chaos or fill in empty slots. Just two of you? Sorry, that part of the game is walled off. To be fair, there is an official Discord so you can find people to play with if you go out of your way, but that’s an added element of effort you have to consider.
On top of that, Popucom has live servicey elements, meaning there’s stuff to earn and unlock, and more stuff that also looks cool that you need to pay for. Some of that content, like a collaboration with the, uh, Rabbids (cough), is limited-time, paid DLC. Popucom admittedly doesn’t have a huge asking price for the base game, but it’s weird to have a model that expects you to come back and open your wallet for more stuff, when the obvious incentive to keep coming back (stuff to do with a larger player base than just your one friend) isn’t part of the equation.
So while it’s rough around the edges in some ways, and a little confusing in others, the core of Popucom is a fun, creative, and thoughtful co-op challenge that combines a set of ideas you don’t see put together often. I mean, if I asked for an example of Puzzle Bobble as a shooter, I doubt I’d get many answers. Add the other gimmicks on top (I love that kitty UFO drone so much, folks), and you have a compelling set of challenges that ramps up intelligently and in ways that always feel surprising and fun to solve. I mostly just wish it was easier to pick up and play!
Popucom is available now on PC. A code was provided by the publisher for this review.
Popucom
- Lots of creative and challenging co-op puzzle play
- UFO kitty!
- Puzzle Bobble as a cutesy shooter works better than you'd think
- No matchmaking
- Hard limits on gameplay with how many players you have
- Annoying DLC structure
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Lucas White posted a new article, Popucom review: Bubbles and buddies