Chop Chop Caveman Preview

After going in five wildly different directions, from endless running to ice hockey, the Chop Chop series is finally returning to its platforming roots. Chop Chop Caveman, set to debut later this month, will offer gamers a taste of the Chop Chop world as it existed millions of years ago.

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Chop Chop Caveman Preview

After going in five wildly different directions, from endless running to ice hockey, the Chop Chop series is finally returning to its platforming roots. Chop Chop Caveman, set to debut later this month, will offer gamers a taste of the Chop Chop world as it existed millions of years ago.

More puzzle platformer than action platformer, Chop Chop Caveman offers a control scheme that will feel right at home to veterans of the series. Like every Chop Chop game, players will be able to control all of the action with only a single finger. To move, you’ll place that finger to the caveman’s left or right. To jump, you’ll tap above in the direction you want to go. The basic controls here are essentially identical to what you’d find in the first Chop Chop game, Chop Chop Ninja.

Go beyond the basics, though, and you’ll find some tricks that only a Caveman would dare to pull off. Knock objects down from up high using a butt stomp, for example. Or throw collected objects with the swipe of a finger. Despite being set millions of years in the past, Chop Chop Caveman offers the evolved controls that you’d expect from the sixth game in a series.

Chop Chop Caveman
Chop Chop Caveman
Chop Chop Caveman

Unlike Ninja, which focused heavily on combat, Chop Chop Caveman is largely about clever platforming and physics puzzles. We recently had a chance to go hands on with Caveman, and the differences between the two games couldn’t be more apparent. Despite similar controls, this isn’t a game that can be played with reckless abandon like its hack’n’slash predecessor. Timing plays a key factor here. You’ll need to quickly get across crumbling platforms, wait until spiky opponents turn their back before attacking, and rush up the seesaw style platforms at just the right time to get maximum height before it starts teetering back downwards.

Patience and timing seem to be key elements in Caveman, but that slower pace has an added benefit: it gives you time to admire the scenery. Thanks to retina display enhanced graphics, the colors in this pre-historic world absolutely pop. You’ll be treated to four different worlds – Jungle, Graveyard, Swamp, and Volcano – each containing four platforming levels and a boss fight.

Puzzling, though, seems to be a core element of Chop Chop Caveman. Expect to solve physics based puzzles in every stage to open up blocked areas so that you can progress to the end. Sometimes this may mean throwing an object at a breakable platform to unleash a series of blocks to climb. Other times you may simply be using the momentum of a seesaw platform to lead you to safety. In our brief experience, none of these ever felt complicated or frustrating – what needed to happen to progress felt clear in each instance we encountered.

Offering 20 levels, four unique worlds, and boss fights where physics puzzles meet frantic action, Chop Chop Caveman will no doubt be a day one purchase for puzzle platforming fans. Be sure to check back with Gamezebo when Chop Chop Caveman is released later this month for our full review.

Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.