Review: Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Posted by: 1/30/2014

A game about being a normal dad in everyday normal situations would likely be an incredibly boring game. But what if that “dad” was actually an octopus in disguise, and said octopus has to act like an ordinary person without being noticed? Now that is an exciting game.

That is the premise behind Octodad: Dadliest Catch which was released earlier this month from indie studio Young Horses. Octodad has found himself in a great situation with a wife, two kids, and a house. While he doesn’t hid the fact well that he is really an octopus, his family doesn’t seem to notice, or if they do they don’t care.

octodad1

As Octodad, you’ll have to pretend to be a real human without other people becoming suspicious of you. Different activities that you’ll take on as Octodad include making coffee, grilling hamburgers, mowing the yard, grocery shopping, and going to the aquarium with your family.

Actually, that is about all you’ll be doing in Octodad: Dadliest Catch. I think it should be noted that this game is very short. There are only a handful of levels that take about 30 minutes to complete. I was able to beat the game in around 90 minutes making my way straight through the game. While I did not find the length to be a problem, there are some people that might be turned away knowing how long the game is.

While the game is rather short, it does make up for it by being incredibly fun. I played the game with a controller, and found it to control rather well. Pressing the right trigger will raise Octodad’s right leg, and the left trigger raises the left leg. Once raised you can use the left stick to move the legs where you want. This allows Octodad to travel pretty quickly, and he can also climb with ease.

octodad2

You’ll control his right arm with both the left and right sticks when not in walking mode. Octodad can grab just about anything in the world, which is where a lot of the humor comes from. It never gets old seeing Octodad stumble around a grocery store while knocking everything down with people staring at him.

The story in Octodad is a rather simple one. While trying to hide the fact that he is an octopus, there is an angry chef out to try and reveal Octodad’s real identity to his family. But to be honest, you aren’t playing Octodad: Dadliest Catch for an engaging story. You’re playing it for the pure joy you get while stumbling around while being an octopus. In that regard, Octodad succeeds greatly.

While the game was short, I can’t remember the last time I’ve had as much fun with a game as I did with Octodad: Dadliest Catch. It is a game that I will definitely be going back to time and time again. It helps that the game has Steam Workshop integration, making it easy to find and install user made levels. In the years to come I have a feeling that Octodad will remain popular because of the maps put out by the community.

octodadkitchentired

I really enjoyed my time with Octodad: Dadliest Catch. While it was a little on the short side, it is also one of the most relaxing and enjoyable games I’ve played in recent memory. It will be exciting to see how the community takes the game and makes levels.

Score: 8.5/10

Octodad: Dadliest Catch was developed and published by Young Horses for PC, Mac, and Linux on January 30th. A copy of the game was provided to us by Young Horses for reviewing purposes.

PC Reviews