Plox Neon Cover

Plox Neon (PC)

This review was originally written on 03/25/2018.

Technical Information

Developer: Desert Owl Games LLC
Publisher: Desert Owl Games LLC
Release Date: 12/19/2017

Plox Neon is a mix of puzzle and action with an old-school arcade vibe. As you move around the map, you leave a trail behind you, and when you close that trail, a section of the stage disappears. Your goal is to clear 100% of the area.
This game is a reinterpretation of an old title called Qix, developed by Taito. It follows the exact same structure: clear the stage, rack up points, and move on to the next level.

A stage from Plox Neon, with a blue background and no trails. A small vertical pink trail lights up the grid. A green trail lights up the grid with three enemies near the player. An orange stage full of enemies, with 17% completed. A rectangular trail is being drawn on the right side of the stage. A stage from Plox Neon, full of pink enemies.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the game as a whole

Graphics and UI

At first glance, the game impresses with its visual effects. It really is very pretty.

The HUD and UI match the proposed design perfectly. They’re straightforward and easy to understand.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

Then you start listening to the music and realize it’s not just the visuals that were well done… catchy electronic beats that never get annoying. All of them are energetic and keep the gameplay exciting.

Gameplay

To make things harder, there are enemies that take a life from you the moment they touch you. You start with 2 lives but can earn more as you increase your score.
Each enemy has its own behavior pattern, which becomes increasingly harder to dodge as you make progress. If you lose all your lives, your score resets, but at least you can continue playing from the level you got stuck on.

When you clear an area with an enemy inside, you earn extra points. However, destroying them isn’t required to complete the stage.
If you want a better score, you can replay previous levels and try to improve it.

There are 60 levels in total! After completing a stage, you’re rewarded with points, and depending on your score, you receive a ranking for that level.

The game includes a Brazilian Portuguese localization. The translation is pretty mechanical, resulting in stage titles that don’t make much sense, but this doesn’t affect gameplay at all.

One downside I found was the session optimization. Even meeting the minimum requirements, the longer I stayed in a session, the more the game started to slow down. To get performance back to normal, I had to close and reopen the game.

Unfortunately, there’s no option to remap buttons or use a controller.

Replayability and Game Retention

The replayability is extremely high. Both for finishing all stages and for trying to get the best rank in each one.
I felt super engaged and only uninstalled the game after completing every level.
The game is not only fun, it’s challenging. You’re always eager to advance and try to finish the stage… simple gameplay, but addictive.

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