Ells Tales: Chicken Review Summary

Innovative chicken puzzles and satisfying Sokoban-style blocks shine in a captivating retro low-poly look, but poor controls, awkward fixed cameras, and a misleading horror label disappoint.

Enjoyable chicken protagonist gameplay: Players consistently praise playing as a chicken, finding it engaging, funny, and the best part of the experience. Solving puzzles as this unusual protagonist adds a unique charm.

Captivating visual aesthetic: The game's art style, including low-poly graphics, retro aesthetic, and atmospheric lighting, is widely appreciated. Many reviewers find the visuals charming and immersive.

Engaging and fun experience: The game is frequently described as fun, cute, and appealingly weird. Its quirky atmosphere and unique concept contribute to an overall enjoyable time.

Positive overall reception: Many reviewers simply express that they liked the game, calling it perfect or worth buying. The overall sentiment is highly favorable.

Satisfying Sokoban-style puzzles: The puzzle design is highlighted as gradually increasing in difficulty and providing a moderate, satisfying challenge. The mechanics are well-received by puzzle enthusiasts.

Poor Controls: Multiple clusters report terrible, awkward, and tank-like controls that make the character and camera difficult to manage. Players find the chicken movement uncomfortable and the overall control scheme frustrating.

Uncomfortable Camera Angles: Fixed camera angles are widely criticized for being horrible, letting the player run out of frame, and making it hard to understand the space. The camera also causes difficulty by not showing the scene properly.

Boring and Disappointing Gameplay: Many players find the game nothing too interesting, boring, and disappointing. It fails to hold interest and feels dull and repetitive.

Misleading Horror Label: The game is categorized and described as horror but lacks any horror elements, being a basic puzzle game instead. Players expected survival horror and were disappointed.

Repetitive Puzzles: Puzzles are described as boring, repetitive, and overly cumbersome even when simple. The gameplay loop feels like a chore rather than engaging.

Sokoban-style block-pushing puzzles: Core gameplay involves Sokoban-style box-moving puzzles in four directions with obstacles and level shapes. Each level contains a puzzle; completing it opens a hatch to the next level.

Chicken protagonist puzzle game: The game stars a chicken protagonist in a poultry prison setting, with awkward, cluck-y controls and third-person exploration. Players solve puzzles as the chicken.

Fixed camera angles: The game uses fixed camera angles similar to classic Resident Evil, with a multicam approach and CCTV-style elevated positions for puzzles. Camera switches between fixed angles when changing scenes.

Egg-saving puzzle objectives: Puzzle elements require thought to save yourself and the egg, with objectives to reposition big eggs and find small glowing eggs. Players must move eggs onto correct platforms to progress.

Dark horror atmosphere: The game has a dark atmosphere with horror elements and scary moments. Lack of light and abundance of chains create a specific atmosphere, and some voyeuristic shots appear in obscure pathways.

Progress blocked by FPS bug: Players report an FPS-related bug on the third level that makes the game impossible to complete, blocking progression through the campaign.

Polarizing player reception: Feedback ranges from strong recommendations to immediate refunds and outright 'do not buy' warnings. This suggests the game appeals to a specific niche rather than a broad audience.

Appeals to Sokoban fans: Several reviewers recommend the game specifically to fans of Sokoban-style puzzle games. This indicates the puzzle mechanics are a core draw for a dedicated audience.

Nostalgia for PS1 horror: The game is recommended for fans of old PlayStation 1 era horror titles. Its dark atmosphere and visual style likely evoke that specific retro aesthetic.

Fans of previous game: Reviewers recommend the title to those who enjoyed the developer's previous game. This suggests continuity in style or mechanics that returning players will appreciate.

Vertical sync prevents bugs: One reviewer advises keeping vertical sync enabled to avoid uncleared stages. This is a practical tip to prevent a progression-blocking issue.

Game completion: 2.5h.

PS1-Era Horror Nostalgist: Single-player atmospheric horror sessions, patiently accepting old-school character-relative controls and awkward camera work as part of the charm. Motivation: To recapture the creepy, low-fi atmosphere and deliberate pacing of the survival horror games they grew up with. Stance: buy.

Series Continuation Follower: Plays through each new installment in order, rolling with major character and gameplay-style shifts because loyalty to the series outweighs the changes. Motivation: To see where the series goes next and get more of the distinctive off-the-wall tone they already enjoyed in the previous entry. Stance: buy.

Adaptation-Tolerant Atmosphere Seeker: Approaches cautiously, spends the opening hours re-learning movement and inputs, and judges the experience mainly on ambiance rather than mechanical polish. Motivation: To soak in the game's mood and atmosphere while accepting that the controls and systems will take some getting used to. Stance: buy.

Sequel to Ells Tales: Egg: The game is a sequel in the Ells Tales series, retaining the unique world view of Ells Tales: Egg. It features a returning character and expands from one puzzle to twelve.

Weaker than first game: Several reviews consider this entry inferior to its predecessor, calling the first game cooler and more interesting. One contrastingly praises it over the first game's simple egg-clicking.

Short completion time: Players note the game can be finished in under two hours, with 100% completion taking about two and a half hours including secrets and two endings. All achievements are obtainable in just under two hours.

Fixed camera complaints: The game's horrible fixed camera angles draw comparisons to classic Resident Evil, though some view the atmosphere similarly favorably. Others say it evokes first PlayStation horror games.

Sokoban-style puzzle comparisons: The puzzle design is compared to Baba Is You, Patrick's Parabox, and A Monster's Expedition. It also draws comparisons to Bendy and the Ink Machine and Boris and the Dark Survival as a puzzle game.