The Therapist Gamer

I've never played a game quite like MonsterBag.  You play as a blue monster who is trying to reach a little girl.  Each stage takes place on a 2D plane filled with people in a line.  You hang on their back (like a bag, or backpack) and try to advance to the girl without dying.  Some characters' eyes are red, indicating that if they see you they'll kill you.  There are invariably obstacles in your way to get to the girl, and you need to interact with the environment to advance - this happens in a manner somewhat similar to classic point-and-click games like Monkey's Island.  For example, someone will be sad and blocking your way, but if you get them a banjo then they'll play and let you pass.

 

Many of the levels require some degree of exploration via tapping the touch screen like crazy so you can find an object with which you can interact.  They also include puzzle solving and a small amount of tactical stealth movement (so as to avoid red eyes).  The early levels go by fairly quickly and with whimsy, and I thought they were pretty enjoyable.  However, some of the later levels rely almost entirely on avoiding detection.  For example, you might need to advance back and forth across seven different people, each looking to the right for a few seconds and to the left for a few seconds, and if you make any mis-timed moves then you have to start over.  The stealth mechanic is too simple and the game eventually devolves into this type of basically un-fun gameplay and I found it really frustrating.  I found myself waiting for 20 seconds for an opportune moment, moving one space over, and waiting for another 20 seconds.  After doing this for half an hour I was ready to give up.  That said, the final two levels have some pretty clever puzzles and it felt rewarding to solve them.

 

As I played the game I thought to myself "Who was this game made for?"  The artistic style is confident, light, and fun, but some of the gameplay elements are way too intense for kids.  For example, one level had me kill off half a dozen refugees so I could get onto a helicopter.  This was done in a variety of ways, including having a spear thrown right through a man with blood spurting everywhere.  This mix of cartoons and hyper-violence has been successfully done before (like in Fat Princess), but it just seemed odd in this game, especially with the overall gameplay seeming more appropriate for a younger audience.

 

On the whole, a mixed bag.  It's good for a bit of fun but be prepared for some rough edges.