THE PLUCKY SQUIRE

How many games let you make friends with a MtG card?

- Robin Valentine

I think if I discovered that my entire life was just a story in a children's picture book, I'd probably have quite a serious breakdown. Jot, the eponymous hero of The Plucky Squire, seems unfazed by it all, however - even as he leaps from the pages of his book and discovers an entirely new 3D reality beyond his own.

It's a great twist for a game that at first just seems like a cute little adventure in the style of the old top-down Legend of Zelda games. Initially charged just with finding some beeswax for a wizard, Jot merrily journeys through the pages of his book with his friends, all brought to life with gorgeous 2D animations. But when the evil sorcerer Humgrump unmoors him from the constraints of the story, things get more interesting.

My hands-on only features the first four chapters of the game, but I'm impressed how much creativity developer All Possible Futures has crammed into that roughly two-hour introduction. As my party and I continue to travel the land-now searching for a way to stop Humgrump - my fourth-wall-breaking abilities let me overcome traditional obstacles in fun new ways.