At first I wasn't sure I'd dig Elephantasy. The player character's somewhat labored movement felt a little unusual to me, even after mapping the controls to the appropriate Steam Deck inputs. But before long, I was entranced!

Your goal is to explore the world collecting gems. There are four items you can equip that help you overcome different obstacles, but you can only carry one to start. The more gems you collect, the more items you can equip at the same time. Exploration yields rewards that enable more exploration: It's a really satisfying gameplay loop!

But what engaged me most was the map. Each little biome is visually distinct and full of puzzles and secrets. It has that Fez or VVVVVV quality that rewards curiosity: I often caught myself smiling while uncovering some of the game's surprises.

Highly recommended for fans of 2-D exploration-based platformers!