The Plucky Squire answers the burning question, “What if Alan Wake wrote a children’s storybook instead of horror thrillers?” This upcoming indie game is a charmingly meta take on classic action-adventure titles and the rousing heroic tales that inspire them. We played through the first few hours of the game (coming to PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X) and sampled its many ideas—almost too many for its own good. Still, we're excited to see the remaining surprises in store when The Plucky Squire launches on September 17.

The Plucky Squire's Unique Gameplay Hook

Initially, The Plucky Squire takes place in a literal storybook world. You control the hero, Jot, as a living drawing who walks across the landscapes painted on each page. Fortunately, the world is engrossing enough that this constant reminder of the game’s artifice doesn’t become a barrier to your investment. With its blend of familiar fantasy archetypes and gentle modern comedy (there’s a wizard named Moonbeard), the vibe feels akin to Adventure Time. 

(Credit: Devolver Digital/PCMag)

Soon, you confront what seems to be the game’s main antagonist and discover the true premise. Your nemesis has become self-aware, and instead of accepting his prewritten loss, the evil sorcerer uses glowing green “metamagic” to pluck Jot out of the storybook and exile him to the realms beyond the page. Here the same shifts from an illustrated 2D fictional world to a 3D, Toy Story-esque real world. 

The twist makes The Plucky Squire even more visually whimsical as the brave tiny hero treks across a foreign land: a desk strewn with paper clips and dominoes. The inventive camera angles provide the same shrunken delights as Pikmin 4. James Turner, co-founder of the game’s developer All Possible Futures, previously handled character designs on recent Pokemon titles, and that cute craftsmanship carries over here.

The demo wasn’t compatible with Steam Deck, but the game looked and ran beautifully on my gaming laptop. The minimum specs are an Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-4350 CPU, GeForce GT 1030 or Radeon HD 7850 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 25GB of storage.

(Credit: Devolver Digital/PCMag)

Outside of the book, you get additional glimpses into the life of the child reading the book, motivating you to give them the happy ending they deserve. Eventually, you guide Jot back to the book, armed with the power to hop between worlds at will through special portals. With its story cards on the table, The Plucky Squire’s gameplay then takes full advantage of the meta concept.

Fresh Challenges and Abilities

The Plucky Squire’s biggest gameplay strength is its well-paced variety and desire to consistently present you with a new goal. Each page is essentially a single-screen, self-contained challenge. As a result, you don’t know what to expect. That imagination is supported by a solid foundation built on top-down action-adventure games like the 2D Legend of Zelda titles. Jot attacks enemies with a sword and can upgrade his abilities. Switching from a top-down view to a side-scrolling view recalls Link’s Awakening. In the real world, Jot’s 2D drawing form can cling to certain surfaces like A Link Between Worlds' painting mechanic.

(Credit: Devolver Digital/PCMag)

The Plucky Squire has its own exciting spins on puzzle-solving action. You’ll frequently find yourself in areas where the words on the page describe your surroundings. You must manipulate those sentences to alter reality and find a path forward. For example, you can drain a river or make a big bug tiny.

Sometimes, you must exit the book, physically turn the pages backward, and retrieve the answer on a previous page to find the word you need. Those awesome puzzle moments are the few times in the demo when the game feels like a cohesive adventure, a Zelda dungeon that demands you remember the whole layout and not just a series of single linear tasks. You can even bring real objects into the story, like a dice to press down on a switch.

(Credit: Devolver Digital/PCMag)

Not every gameplay gimmick is as fun as that, though. Although the variety is admirable, some aspects of the adventure feel more like filler that distracts from the meta puzzles, the game’s core appeal. These other mini-game-esque activities are just a lot less consistent. A Punch Out!!-style boss is fun, but a generic shooting gallery battle isn’t. I loved a sequence where you must retrieve an elven bow from a trading card in the real world, but forced stealth missions involving escaped beetles were painfully tedious.

Thanks to accessibility options, you can make the game as easy or hard as you’d like. I just hope the latter half stays focused on the more enjoyable and original ideas.

Early Verdict: The Plucky Squire Is a Real Page-Turner

Just from the opening few hours, The Plucky Squire takes a lot of big swings. And it hits more than enough of them that we’re curious to see more. Its creativity shines when it explores the possibilities of a storybook adventure that straddles our reality. We just hope the final game pushes the challenges even further.

The Plucky Squire launches on September 17 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Want more in-depth video game discussion? Visit PCMag's Pop-Off YouTube Channel.