I'm not going to pretend I don't deserve a cold sore. I play things fast and loose, baby. However, a disgusting yellow scab on my lip cramped my style. So instead of going out last weekend, I played Tokobot.

The best way I can describe Tokobot is, "imagine if Pikmin was bad." You control a protagonist and his entourage of eight robot minions. You explore mostly linear levels by navigating platform and combat puzzles that demand an accuracy not afforded by the game itself.

This creates a sense of cruelty in Tokobot. There is tension and fear in its grand empty hallways and bottomless pits. You alone must navigate a broken world with shoddy tools. This game is made by Tecmo's Fatal Frame team. Both Fatal Frame and Tokobot perform a magic trick of masking shoddy gameplay with an artistic atmosphere.

Anyway, my cold sore is almost gone now. All that's left is the sensitive new skin from where the blemish once thrived. The cold sore may come back, but I doubt the Tokobot IP will.