Another Formulaic Sokoban, This Time With Capybaras
Surprisingly, Capy Spa is not the first spa-based sokoban we have played. That honour goes to Sokobear Winter. Come on, Capy Spa: you are late to the furry-animals-pushing-blocks-in-a-sauna genre.
It’s far from the first sokoban released by Afil Games, either. Afil Games are, by a considerable distance, the most prolific releasers of sokoban games on the Xbox. We’ve played four this year and we’re only in February. That rate of release is possible because the majority conform to a template. While the puzzle layouts are different, the structure is the same. Thirty levels, 2000G, up to four blocks to push, and up to four spaces to push them into.
You May Ask ‘What Is A Sokoban?’
Each puzzle in Capy Spa has a simple request of the player. Can you push some large yellow potted plants into some bubbling water? I’m not well-versed in how saunas work, but I’m going to assume that heated plants are very much a thing.
You push the plants with Pipa the capybara, whom we guess is the owner of the spa. Moving a plant is simple enough as you just need to move behind it and push. That shunts the plant, hopefully, closer to the sauna. You can only move them up, down, left or right – no diagonals – and there needs to be space for Pipa to push in that direction. If a plant ends up in a corner, you are very much scuppered.
The aim is for all of the plants to end up in all of the bubbling waters. But that’s rarely easy. The plants have a habit of getting stuck, either against each other or against walls. It’s also all too easy to get stuck yourself, leaving yourself no room to escape. And the levels are so claustrophobic that these scenarios are likely to happen.
Cut From The Same Sokoban Cloth
This has been the formula for 90% of Afil Games’ sokobans, and Capy Spa is no different. There are no mechanics to disrupt stuff. There’s no second player, no turn counters, no alien invasions or rhythm action sections. It’s a game for sokoban purists, who want nothing more than tightly constructed layouts with just enough space to wiggle a capybara through.
That purism will have different reactions from different people. For games journalists who are on their fourth sokoban of the year, it can be a little grating. For capybara fans who just want a cute puzzle to dip into, the simplicity will be fine. You will know which of the two you skew towards.
Because Capy Spa is cute and endearing. The World’s Current Favourite Mammal is depicted in an adorable way, and the presentation is always colourful. The Undo and Retry features are exhaustive, and have your back when you get anything wrong. We’d have taken a Hint or Skip system (if you’re stuck, you’re truly stuck) but we’ve been complaining about the lack of them for multiple games now. We’re not going to get them.
The biggest variation in these sokobans tends to be difficulty. Capy Spa, perhaps appropriately considering the subject matter, is on the easier side. One measure of Afil difficulty is when I first get stuck. If it’s around the level 10-15 mark, then the sokoban is on the harder side. Capy Spa came to a grinding halt at level 16 of 30. That’s on the later side, so we can say with confidence that this is an accessible box-pusher.
Is Innovation Important In A Sokoban Puzzler?
The obvious criticism, and we level it at most of these games, is that there’s a lack of ideas. There aren’t many reasons to pick this one up over other sokoban – Afil sokobans included. It’s likely that the biggest draw will be the capybara itself, because there’s certainly nothing in the game mechanics that will be dragging people through the doors.
It means that we came to the same old conclusions; the same as Cute Astro, Hummingbird Garden and more. Afil Games make fine, minimalist sokoban puzzles. If you are in the market for non-nonsense box-pushing, devoid of ideas and complicated mechanics, then this is a good option. The inclusion of a capybara only makes that option better.
But if you want anything resembling ambition or innovation then you should probably find somewhere else to unwind. Capy Spa is more of the same, just furrier.
Important Links
Capy Spa Invites Xbox, PC And PlayStation Players To Unwind – https://www.thexboxhub.com/capy-spa-invites-xbox-pc-and-playstation-players-to-unwind/
Buy from the Xbox Store, for Series X|S – https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/store/p/capy-spa-xbox-series/9p1xfk6s80dk
There’s an Xbox One edition – https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/store/p/capy-spa-xbox-one/9p6c84q3lrnq
Or one for PC – https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/store/p/capy-spa-windows/9n4zhpr9h4wb
