Gecko Gods has a lovely cozy vibe and some smart puzzle ideas, but the camera and floaty movement hold it back on PS5
Gecko Gods is one of those games I wanted to love more than I actually did. You play as a tiny blue gecko, skittering across ancient islands, climbing walls and ceilings, eating insects, smashing pots, and head-bonking gongs to wake up old gecko gods. It is weird in a good way. It has that soft, playful energy where the world feels inviting and slightly mysterious, and the whole thing clearly comes from a team that cares about the mood they are building.
From the start, the game gives off a cozy puzzle-adventure vibe. You are not rushing through combat arenas or chasing giant set pieces. You are poking around ruins, checking corners, spotting symbols, and figuring out how to unlock your next path forward. There is also a little boat you use to move between islands, and yes, it absolutely gives Wind Waker-style energy. Sailing around to hunt for your next objective or side collectible is one of the more relaxing parts of the whole experience.
Traversal is the main hook, and it is a good one. As the gecko, you can walk on almost any surface, including upside down sections that turn rooms into mini spatial puzzles. At its best, this feels great. You see a structure and you just climb around it from unexpected angles. It makes level layouts feel more open than they really are.
The problem is that movement has a floaty, slippery feel that never fully goes away. Sometimes that looseness is fine when you are just exploring. In tighter platforming moments, though, it can be frustrating. You can feel the game trying to be chill and forgiving, but there were plenty of moments where I wanted more precise control instead.
The camera is the bigger issue. It freaks out more often than it should, especially when you are upside down on one wall and trying to transition to another surface nearby. Angles can become awkward, depth gets harder to read, and orientation can break for a second. It is not unplayable, but it happens enough to be a consistent annoyance.
Puzzle design is where the game earns real credit. There is a nice spread of puzzle types across the islands. You get pattern-matching tasks with rotating pieces, cable based puzzles, some light and mirrors ones, and classic push-object setups where you guide balls into pits or sockets. None of these reinvent the genre, but they are paced well enough that the game keeps changing the flavor before one idea gets too stale.
I liked how puzzles are woven into exploration instead of being isolated challenge rooms. You are usually solving something as part of understanding the island itself. Even when I was mildly lost, I still felt like I was engaging with the world design rather than just checking boxes.
That said, figuring out where to go sometimes leans closer to confusion. There were stretches where I had completed parts of an objective chain without realizing it, and other stretches where I wandered around because I was not sure what had changed after pulling a switch. There's a map, but it just gives you a general idea where to go, but you have to figure out where the entrance actually is.
Collecting things is a big part of the loop. You can find relics, eat different insects, and smash vases for shiny currency. The shiny stuff at least has clear value because you can use it to unlock cosmetic options later. Relics, on the other hand, felt mostly like checklist collectibles in my run. They are there if you enjoy completion for completion’s sake, but they did not add much to gameplay depth for me.
Visually, the game is very easy to like. It has a cozy, simple cel-shaded look with warm lighting and clean shapes that fit the tone perfectly. The islands are pleasant to explore, and the whole presentation feels intentionally calm rather than flashy. It also runs great on PS5. Performance stayed smooth for me, and that helped a lot in a game built around movement and puzzle readability.
Where Gecko Gods lost me a bit was momentum. Early on, I was charmed by the concept and enjoying the novelty of gecko movement. A few hours later, I realized I had done most of these puzzle patterns before, often in games that pushed them further. That does not make Gecko Gods bad. It just makes it feel familiar in a way that slowly chipped away at my excitement.
I still think there is a lot to appreciate here. The game has heart. You can feel the passion behind it in the art direction, the tone, and the commitment to this odd little gecko fantasy. For younger players especially, or for anyone who wants a gentler puzzle exploration game without heavy pressure, this can absolutely land.
For me, it ended up as a solid, occasionally charming adventure that I respected more than I loved. The highs are real: creative traversal, good puzzle variety, and a cozy tone that stands out. The lows are also real: floaty movement, frequent camera headaches, and progression beats that can drift from intriguing to unclear.
Gecko Gods is worth checking out if its vibe speaks to you and you are fine with rough edges. Just go in expecting a game driven by atmosphere and curiosity rather than tight mechanical precision. Thanks for reading!
