The Plucky Squirehas a lot going for it. An indescribably charming picture book aesthetic, a variety of engaging gameplay mechanics, and a touching story that is just as fun on paper as it is off it. However, one of the most interesting elements of the game are the puzzles dotted throughout its levels.
While the puzzles in The Plucky Squire aren’t the main event, they nonetheless rarely disappoint with the clever way they make you think outside the box (or the book!) and manipulate enemies and objects in a variety of cool ways. These are the puzzles that will test out your problem-solving – and reading – abilities in The Plucky Squire.
A warning to all plucky gamers out there as this list will contain solutions and spoilers for puzzles spread throughout the entire playthrough of The Plucky Squire.
7Feeding The Giant Rat
This Cheese Goes A Long Way
While exploring Thrash’s homeland, you’ll come across a rather mean-spirited rat who will gladly bite you if you try to pass in front. To get around this rather rotund rodent, you must switch around some words on the page, particularly those relating to the giant block.
First, you need to turn the block into metal to help break through a weakened part of a wall, before making that same block glow so you’re able to see inside the cave, and finally, transforming it into a massive block of cheese to distract the bothersome rat. This puzzle is a great use of both the word-swapping mechanics and the tilt gloves.
6Moving Gozzy
He Was Only Trying To Help
While the giant stone man Gozzy is only trying to do his job by keeping trespassers out of his land, he unfortunately goes a little too far with his professional commitment. Specifically, he refuses to let Jot and his friends in, despite them being there to save the world of Mojo.
This means you have to get creative with moving Gozzy. The two towering speakers on either side of him have to be weakened before you can tilt the pages to knock poor Gozzy out. Hopefully, he takes the time to be unconscious for some rest and recovery.
5Red Chests In The Mine
Going Around And Around In Circles
Jot heads down into the mines to pick up a special item, only to find a pair of red chests in locations that appear seemingly inaccessible. The good news is that you can just hop out of the book and use your tilt gloves to move the mine carts around the page.
But while that works at the start of this puzzle, you’ll soon realise that opening and reaching the red chests requires a bit more lateral thinking than you originally planned. It’s a great puzzle that usesThe Plucky Squire’s paper aestheticand mechanics to their full potential.
4Moving The Big Box
Flip It Over, Jot!
Inthe final chapter of The Plucky Squire, you get the ability to completely close the book to stamp certain objects infused with metamagic from one page to the other. Unfortunately, this cool mechanic is only used in a small handful of puzzles, with this particular one being a standout.
Jot and his friends have arrived at a closed gate and the only way to open it is through manipulating the position of a metamagic block onto a switch. However, before you can simply flip the book over, you need to position the block through the use of your bomb stamp so that it is poised just right. A really neat mix of some of Jot’s best, and underutilised, abilities.
3Powering The Bridge
Did We Need AA Or AAA Batteries?
There’s nothing worse than an uncrossable ravine with a bridge that refuses to open. Unless, of course, you are a Plucky Squire with some tricks up your sleeve to make sure that pesky bridge gets the power it needs to do its thing.
Namely, you have to change around some words to create a giant metal goblin (stick with us) which you then move around the page using your bomb glove. Once you get that goblin in place, switch it back to a battery, and watch that sweet, sweet bridge open up.
2Buccaneer Bay
Ice, Ice Bay(by)
Buccaneer Bay is an earlier puzzle in The Plucky Squire that puts the word-swapping mechanic to great use. With a single word, you can change the watery surrounds of the bay into ice, allowing you to slip and slide to where you need to go.
From there, it’s just a matter of defeating some enemies and hopping between some portals to get the key items needed to progress. But it’s flipping between the frozen and thawed states that sets Buccaneer Bay apart as one of the most memorable puzzles in The Plucky Squire.
1Nighttime In The Swamp
All Day And All Night
Despite appearing in only the game’s fourth chapter, thistime-manipulation puzzleis perhaps the best example of The Plucky Squire’s imaginative puzzle design with words. The main mechanic of the puzzle is swapping out the word “nighttime” with “daytime”, with the change of time affecting the position of some singing frogs.
Each time you switch night into day – or vice versa – you can access new areas of the swamp, gradually completing the puzzle as you go. It’s a truly inspired puzzle that showcases the very peak of The Plucky Squire’s plucky design.
