Grobo is an Attractive Puzzle Platformer with Great Gravity Mechanics

While Antipole DX wielded gravity as a weapon, Hot Chocolate Games' Grobo utilizes one of the four fundamental forces of nature in a much different way. At its face, it seemed to be a delightfully simple platformer game. After spending just a few minutes with it at Play NYC 2019, I discovered that there was much more than I had first expected.

The story of Grobo is pretty simple. The city of Megatropolis spans an entire planet. There's a lot of cool technology spread throughout the world, but there's been a bit of an apocalypse that puts a damper on the majesty of the whole thing. You'll be taking on the role of g.R0b0 (hence the name), a tiny robot with the power to manipulate gravity. This power will allow him to move through the world

There have been a few games over the years that let you tinker with gravity in one way or another, either as one part of your overall arsenal (like in Terraria) or an integral mechanic that's central to the game (like in VVVVVV). Grobo is definitely in the latter category as you'll be making use of your gravity powers in every level.

What's particularly interesting is that this is not a simple "up or down" system. This is played on mobile devices and you'll be able to shift gravity simply by swiping in one particular direction. I've certainly fallen to my death in platformer games, but I've never seen one where I could fall to my death to the left or right.

You don't just switch gravity, mind; you'll also be able to walk around on the floor — or rather, whatever surface is "below" you relative to the gravity field you're generating. This essentially makes levels in Grobo four different platforming sections that are all neatly interwoven into one another. It can get a bit mind-bendy, but that's certainly part of the appeal.

Grobo is Getting Ready for Release

Grobo was originally planned to launch sometime last year, but I suppose that developer Hot Chocolate Games needed a bit more time to flesh things out nicely. In the interim since last year, they've been hard at work rounding out the mechanics and prettying up their game. It's now currently in a closed beta for both Android and iOS; you can sign up for it by filling out this form.

From what I've seen firsthand at Play NYC 2019, I think there's a good chance that we can see Grobo launched before the year is out. Then again, I'm not a game developer and I've only spent a handful of minutes getting hands-on with the game. What I have seen, however, is pretty fantastic and I think it will be well worth playing when it's out.

You can find out more about Grobo by heading over to the developer's official website; you can also follow them on Twitter.

What do you think of Grobo? Do you like platformers that tinker with gravity or do you prefer to keep your feet on the ground? Let us know in the comments below, and check out what else we saw at Play NYC by going to our Play NYC 2019 Coverage Hub.