 Hey everyone today, we're going to be talking about a video game for Nintendo switch And I think a lot of you guys are going to really enjoy and that is because it is a game that really took me by Surprise even though the whole reason that we're covering it is because this video is sponsored by it But folks if you're a huge fan of Captain Toad treasure tracker in particular, I think you're gonna want to pay attention to this one So this video is sponsored by Europa Yeah, the very game this video is about when people reach out to me about doing dedicated videos on games I often don't respond because it's just not something we typically do. There are so many studios that contact me that honestly There won't even be time to cover news if I just told all of them sure I'll review your game But sometimes something comes across our desk that just feels worthwhile So well, this is in no way a review. It's a sponsored video You know, you can't really review a game when you're being paid to talk about it It doesn't mean that it's not worth your while Europa has exceeded all of my expectations so far But let's get first into what the studio describes the game and and then we'll talk about my experiences So the studio calls Europa a gravity-defying puzzle platform paint adventure About breaking rules being upside down and thinking outside the box and it includes a brand new create mode That lets you build and share your own levels as well as design your own characters Think Super Mario Galaxy meets portal meets Fez meets jet-set radio only completely different I don't know if I could necessarily buy that description entirely But I understand why it can be sort of hard to make a one-to-one comparison to just a single game So is this a platformer? Well so far I can't jump and I'm ours into the game So I'm sort of assuming there is no jumping a platformer staple. Is it action-packed? I mean there are enemies to be sure that you mostly try to avoid Is it just a puzzle game to an extent? This may be the best description, but it feels like something more Europa seems to partially inspire its name by seemingly ripping part of Europe into the sky You take over what is yet to actually be named to me a character And from here you have zero UI a super clean look and no idea what is going on The game does introduce elements of how its puzzles in gravity craziness work slowly And there are times where I could argue this game is more closely related to the sort of gameplay You get in the absolutely brilliant captain toad treasure tracker But then it keeps adding in new experiences and elements along the way that go beyond What captain toad experiences there are collectibles and what's cool in these collectibles Is that they actually unlock new assets for the create mode That's right. The game lets you literally create your own levels stages and progression Everything you play through in the base game can literally be rebuilt by you If you collect everything of course chances are you will just come up with your own amazing designs I barely scratch the surface of the level creation because I lack the patience for it But for those that really love how this game plays and enjoy custom creations This is something I think many will dive really deep into The level of customization in your designs is insane I also really enjoy how this game handles the fact that there is no UI The only meaningful thing you need to track is your health Which amounts to how many times you can get hit or fall off the map before seeing game over Now if you just started a new section of the game Game over is like losing a life and it just takes you back to the beginning of that stage But in later stages this can really suck As the stages can get quite complex and take a while to beat It can feel like a real punishment to have to redo your stage progression all over again Because you took a wrong step But getting back to how the game tracks your health Your ragdoll style character is colored black Or at least mine was you might have a different paint color There seems to be different paint colors So I don't know but my color was black And that represents your health Whatever color you're painted at the beginning is your health Every hit you take from an enemy or fall off the map drains some of that color Turn in you more and more white It's basically a health meter built into the character and it looks really cool There are spray cans you can find throughout the game that help you decorate the body of your character I went with eyeballs And you know you can do whatever you want You can put the eyeballs anywhere you want You don't have to put the eyes on the character You can do a mouth You know so there's some customization there right off the gate Like do you want one eye? Do one, two, two Put the eye on your leg if you want Or don't have any at all It's really fun to mess around with The game doesn't seem to have a story at this point At least not one I can figure out There is no dialogue No text beyond a few hint words on a wall or floor And no cutscenes It's just gameplay in its purest form with a rather calming soundtrack The worlds are beautifully rendered and pretty serene And I daresay you get a little sense of loneliness on this journey As you try to solve the puzzles and figure out where this is all heading The puzzles however are quite clever And I would be lying if I say I never got stumped But I really enjoy how the puzzles function on the whole As it added a whole new sense of immersion After figuring out something that had me guessing for almost 30 minutes The thing is oftentimes you just have to pay attention to the smallest of details To realize how silly it was that you didn't notice the solution was right in front of you the whole time And this style of puzzle design has always been intriguing for me Plus they keep adding new puzzle elements the deeper into the game you get Such as the type of block puzzles we have come to know and love From the legend of Zelda franchise Now look, Europa may or may not be your cup of tea But it's certainly a game I am going to continue to play for a little while When I just need something a little different Maybe the best part of all of this is that you can actually download a free demo of the game Right off the e-shop to try it out before you buy it Something that to me has always exuded confidence from a game developer And I can say safely that sponsored or not This game is a high quality puzzle experience It will run you roughly $18 or so on Switch It technically launched two days ago but for some reason I can't get an official listing On the North American e-shop but I did some conversions from other e-shops And it seems to be about $18 But either way I'll have a link down to the North American e-shop down below And the demo is live for you to go download And obviously purchase right after if you enjoy Now look, I'm going to kind of let you guys maybe enjoy a little bit of gameplay here Before we wrap things up But guys I really, I can't say this enough One, thank you to the developers of this game for sponsoring this video I can't thank you enough for not only introducing me to the world of Europa But also being willing to support the channel and support what we do here It means a lot to me when a high quality game like this comes across to our desk And they want to support us So thank you guys for that Please enjoy a fresh look at some cooler elements in Europa And we'll catch you guys in the next video