First impressions of TOHU as demoed at PAX Online! Slated for release Autumn 2020 by Fireart Games | The Irregular Corporation.

Format: PC via Steam

The beautiful world of TOHU

Every year I’m always excited for PAX and this year was no exception. With the PAX Online format, I’m pleased to be able to share with you my first impressions of several games, including TOHU. TOHU is a point & click adventure game set in the weird and wonderful world of fish planets. When the Sacred Engine breaks down, it’s up to The Girl and her alter ego Cubus to restore power to this beautiful fish-scape.

Using Cubus to lift heavy metal pieces

During TOHU, the player can switch between The Girl who’s light enough to reach certain areas and her alter ego Cubus whom possesses great mechanical strength. Together they interact with their environment to obtain strange objects and start eccentric mechanisms. The demo features 4 areas with character swaps being necessary at least twice.

Players can swap to Cubus or back by clicking their current character

I love the art of TOHU and the odd way it blends inorganic clutter into organic life. There are many sound effects to bring vibrance to the animations, from the chugging of machines, to the humming of The Girl, and blinking eyes of goo monsters. Compared to other point & click games, I did find the sound effects to be somewhat potent and distacting however.

The story focuses on trying to restore power

I found the puzzles in TOHU to be well blended in with the scenery. The lines between exploring and puzzle solving are well blurred and no instructions were given for the puzzles in the demo. A tablet in the game can provide hints for players, as well as track objectives. There’s also a section for collecting local bugs of vaguely mechanical nature.

Starting the bug collection

Expectation

Overall, I expect TOHU to be a cute and charming point & click game. A lot of loving art, animations, and sound effects have been put into the game to bring it to life. It wasn’t overly difficult, making is accessible to a wider audience. I also loved keeping track of unique collectibles that played with the atmosphere of the world.