Octodad: Dadliest Catch review

Being an octopus isn't easy, and it's even harder if you're an octopus pretending to be a human father.

This is the premise of Octodad: Dadliest Catch, a hilariously hard-to-control puzzle game from Young Horses.

While this version of the game successfully makes the jump to mobile, some technical issues can make it more difficult to control than it already is.

In Octodad, the goal in any specific situation is for players to complete very run-of-the-mill objectives, like getting out of bed and making coffee, but doing so while not tipping off anyone that you're actually an octopus.

This is a lot harder than it sounds because controlling a bipedal octopus involves having to individually control its boneless limbs to have it do everything from mow the lawn to walk up a down escalator.

As expected, a lot of the fun in Octodad comes from how hard it is to control such a floppy protagonist in situations that us humans generally don't really think about as being difficult in any way. It also helps that the writing in Octodad leans into all of the absurdity at every turn.

As delightful as the game's presentation is, not everyone will see the charm in having to tap and drag individual limbs to walk, grab, and interact with things. Additionally, later levels that involve weather effects can cause game performance to suffer significantly, even on an iPad Air 2, which can add to the frustration of having to flop around the game world.

That being said, I quite enjoyed my time with Octodad. It's charm totally won me over and made it worth sticking with to the end, though I'm not particularly enticed to sink much lime into free play, co-op, or even the short extras offered beyond the story mode.

Technical issues aside, Octodad is an adorable little game that doesn't overstay its welcome.