Poi
There’s more than one point of interest in this retrofest
$14.99 Developer PolyKid, poi-game.com Requirements OS X 10.7 or later, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M or better
Poi is the debut project from two-man developer PolyKid. This 3D platformer, spread across four distinctive worlds and populated by goofy archeologists, retired adventurers, and raccoon traders is vivid, vibrant, and infused with charm.
Unsurprisingly, the goal of Poi is to collect: medallions, coins, fossils, gears, keys, photographs, stones, baby penguins… Amassing knickknacks unlocks a steady drip of new areas and mini-games, and Poi’s deliberate pacing keeps it from
getting stale too quickly. Its rhythm and structure are familiar bordering on predictable, but the action is sustained by sharp controls and clever level design.
Aspiring adventurers come with an arsenal of responsive double-jumps, lunges, and somersaults; Poi is never hard, but zipping through its densely layered obstacles is fun in its own right. Each world is big enough to provide a sense of exploration, but not so scattershot that hunting down a specific relic or hidden room becomes a chore.
While its broad strokes are derivative, there is creativity in Poi’s details. Each level is connected to an airborne hub, for example, a central area of merchants and mechanics flying in a ragtag steampunk armada. To get from ship to ship, simply walk off the gangplank and a parasail does the rest.
A society of airships, floating islands, and unmoored mountains may have been more interesting than Poi’s by-thenumbers forest, desert, and volcano areas. On the other hand, each winking joke and Easter egg is a reminder that Poi was made by a tiny team expressing its genuine fondness for a quirky genre.
the bottom line. Poi is content to be a pleasant homage to the more ambitious platformers of the mid-’90s. Anyone looking for a joyful, rose-tinted adventure will find satisfaction here.