Gorogoa is a puzzle game developed by Jason Roberts and published by Annapurna Interactive in 2017. The game follows a young boy as he collects five fruits in order to ward off a monster. The player must help the boy complete his quest by solving various puzzles.
The primary mechanic of the game is that the player can move up to four tiles around a 2×2 grid. Each tile depicts a different area or image, and players can zoom in or out or move around within each tile. The player can move some tiles on top of one another in order to combine them into one new image. Also, by dragging the tiles around, the player can line them up in a way that allows for them to connect and interact with each other, as depicted below.
These mechanics are carefully designed in a way that allows the player to feel both satisfied at their completion, and eager to uncover their next challenge. When the player encounters a mechanic for the first time, such as combining tiles in order to turn gear-like objects, they will update their mental model. This will allow them to solve more complex, similar puzzles later on in the game. Another example of this dynamic occurs when a tile features an object that looks similar to an object in another tile. This serves as a hint to the player that the tiles might be able to connect. After solving a puzzle using this mechanic, the player will know to watch out for tiles that might connect, enabling them to solve future puzzles that might use the mechanic. This allows the player to experience fun in the form of challenge. With each puzzle solved, the player will feel satisfied and proud of their ability to solve puzzles of increasing difficulty. When a puzzle is solved, images will become animated or new images will be revealed, captivating the player with visual stimuli. This provides the player with fun in the form of discovery, allowing the player to uncover a new set of images for each puzzle solved.
