It's entirely possible that I'm just not the target audience for this game, so please before taking my word for it, read some of the more positive reviews for it and see if they sound more in line with your expectations.

Personally, I couldn't get into it. I really wanted to because the concept seemed really interesting and the screenshots were absolutely gorgeous, but there doesn't appear to be any gameplay - or at least, I couldn't find any. The game offers no concrete direction about where to go, what to do, or what's important. You are given a character you know next to nothing about and a dreamworld for him to explore. After a couple directionless hours, I managed to find and solve one puzzle, go to a second...place that didn't appear to have anything to do, and grab a few collectibles which could just as easily be critical to the story and its progression as it is to be just collectibles.

I can get passed the lack of polish and the graphical glitches that make it run sluggish and jittery even on hardware above it's recommended specs, but I don't have the time or the patience to figure out what makes this game worth playing and what I'm supposed to do in it. I understand that the game is supposed to have a lot of exploration and discovery to it, and it does. The problem is that without a stated goal, exploration quickly turns into simply being lost.

Honestly a solid tutorial would go a long way to giving direction to the experience, but I imagine that if one was planned, it would have been implemented by now. If you like walking around aimlessly looking at beautiful scenery, this game has something to offer you. If you're looking for anything else, unfortunately, I think you should pass on Dream.

Your childhood is calling and it wants to let you know that Spy Fox in Cheese Chase is a genuinely good game.

Wherever fans of games like BIT. Trip Runner and Super Hexagon overlap with fans of puns and a tolerance for kids games, there's a chance you might really enjoy this game.

Spy Fox in Cheese Chase is a spin off game - it's not a point and click adventure like the rest of the Humongous Entertainment mainstays such as Pajama Sam, Freddie Fish, or Putt-Putt. It's actually more akin to a vertical scroller. You are trying to track down Russian Blue who has stolen a priceless cheese - as a result, your goal from level to level is to avoid obstacles, eliminate goons (sometimes with your environment, and sometimes with your "weapons" - bananas, pies, and plungers), follow the cheese trail left behind, and keep gas in your spy-mobile.

It's incredibly simple in concept and mechanics - there's no deep story or creative application of mechanics here. If you pick it up, it'll be because you want to play a spy fox game again and experience that nostalgia all over again. However, it's quite good at what it does. For the most part, the mechanics and levels are fair - relying on you gradually getting a better hang for the mechanics as the game progresses and not really ever employing fake difficulty.

Despite being a kids game, it's no walk in the park. The game starts out very patient and slow, allowing a new gamer to get their feet wet, but by the end of the game may well be dying several times in any given level and adapting your strategy accordingly.

Fair warning - the game had a small team from a while back. There are some buggy behaviors were collision areas aren't perfectly defined, or slipping on an object one time has a different result the next time and when these things occasionally happen, if you can't recover, they will feel like the game messed up. Additionally, the game is not going to run at 60 fps no matter what your rig is - the animations for the game are very very noticeable and occasionally disorienting, bordering on causing eye strain depending on the circumstances. I was able to deal with it and still heavily enjoy the game, but this could be a deal breaker for some people, and I don't want to mislead you.

Lastly, the game comes with fairly advanced level making functionality. I don't think this will be a major draw for anyone, but considering it comprised of three of the six main menu options, I thought it was worth mentioning.

TLDR: Spy Fox in Cheese Chase is a not-♥♥♥♥ blast of nostalgia that holds up for entertainment value and challenge to a modern day playthough. For the right person, it's definitely worth $5.