Bluey: The Videogame Review - Screenshot 1 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Given Bluey’s meteoric rise since the show's television debut in 2018, it seemed inevitable that a video game adaptation would eventually make its way into the hands of eager fans worldwide. Thanks to developer Artax Games and publisher Outright, that adaptation is now here, with Bluey: The Videogame letting you directly control each member of the Heeler family: Bandit, Chilli, Bingo, and of course, Bluey. It’s a charming effort that manages to successfully emulate the Australian cartoon in terms of visuals and audio, but falls deeply short of capturing the same magic. Despite this, young children will still likely get a kick out of the experience, but more on that later.

Taking place across five locations from the show, including the Heeler household, the backyard, the beach, the playground, and the creek, Bluey: The Videogame tells a short, reasonably wholesome story in which the family goes in search of Bandit’s lost childhood treasure. When we say “short”, however, we mean it: the game’s story is split into four episodes, and each of these will take roughly around 10-15 minutes to complete. So you can make your way through the entire game in about an hour, tops. Add in the various collectibles and you might be able to stretch it to two hours, but that’s it.

Bluey: The Videogame Review - Screenshot 2 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Since each TV episode of Bluey generally lasts just short of 10 minutes (not counting the upcoming 28-minute special in 2024 - oh boy!), we imagine these in-game episodes have been crafted to emulate the TV series. The problem, however, is that when you factor in gameplay in addition to the story, there’s not a whole lot you can do within that timeframe.

Take episode one, for example. You’ll start by rounding up a selection (four, to be exact) of Bluey and Bingo’s toys in the house. Afterward, you engage in a short game of ‘Keepy-Uppy’ with a red balloon before the wind blows it into the house. Once you track down the missing balloon, that’s it — end of the episode.

You can expect more or less the same from the subsequent episodes, too, albeit with slight variations on tasks along with a welcome change of scenery. The gameplay is, however, really where Bluey struggles to maintain interest. The entire game is an exercise in locating and collecting objects, whether these are directly linked to the main story or not. You’ll go from finding toys in the Heeler household to locating junk that’s accumulated in the creak, but fundamentally, you’re just doing the same thing throughout the whole experience. You can bolster the experience slightly via local multiplayer for up to four players, but even then, the game doesn't alter its objectives to make everyone feel involved. Thankfully, there’s a bit of welcome relief with the four minigames available, but not a great deal.

Each of the four is unlocked once you’ve played the specific activity in the main story. We’ve already mentioned ‘Keepy-Uppy’, but you’ve also got ‘The Floor is Lava’, in which you need to jump from one platform to the next without touching the ground, ‘Magic Xylophone’, which tasks you with simply chasing the other members of the family and ‘freezing’ them with your xylophone, and ‘Chattermax Chase’, a horrifically tedious affair in which you need to grab and hold onto a cuddly toy for a set amount of time.

You control your character with the analogue stick (there are no gyro pointer controls here) and you can play the minigames at any time during the story by simply tapping ‘X’ and choosing from the selection available. Each one has a time limit, but chances are you’ll be able to wrap it up in about a minute or so. They’re decent distractions, but ultimately these are games that you’ll likely play once or twice before casting them aside. If we were to pick a favourite, then we’d probably go for ‘Keepy-Uppy’, but even that one couldn’t hold our attention for very long.

Bluey: The Videogame Review - Screenshot 3 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Aside from the story and the minigames, you’ve also got a whole bunch of collectibles to gather in each of the five locations. These aren’t particularly tricky to find thanks to the conspicuous sparkle that surrounds each object, but it’s at least a nice way to get players to explore the environment further. Some of the collectibles grant you stickers, while others gradually reveal a family picture. There’s no real incentive in locating the collectibles beyond artificially extending the game’s overall runtime, but for youngsters particularly enamoured with the world of Bluey, it’s a decent way to showcase the faithful visuals.

Speaking of visuals, Bluey: The Videogame mostly looks pretty good on the Switch. Artax has done a decent job at recreating the TV show, though we’ll admit that some areas could have been improved. For starters, the animation looks pretty stiff when compared to the show, with the movement of the characters’ mouths being a particularly egregious issue. You’ve also got collectible outfits, but these are rendered with poor 3D visuals, creating a weird juxtaposition when you whack a 3D cowboy hat on top of Bandit’s 2D-looking head. Finally, it’s not a major issue, but there’s a weird glitch during cutscenes in which you can see a tiny sliver of the visuals between the outside edge of the black letterbox filter and the edge of the Switch’s display.

Bluey: The Videogame Review - Screenshot 4 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Ultimately, though we have issues with almost every facet of Bluey: The Videogame, it would almost feel wrong to say that you definitely shouldn’t buy it. If you’ve got young children who happen to love the TV series, then they’re also going to love the game, it’s that simple. Even if they don’t particularly want to engage in the story or the minigames, children will likely get a thrill from simply existing within this world, playing as their favourite characters, and exploring familiar environments. This is certainly worth pondering if you see the $40 launch price and feel a certain degree of hesitancy. When you consider that a family trip to the cinema may result in a comparable investment, this might not be a bad way to keep the kids engaged for a couple of hours. Just don't buy in expecting days of family fun and distraction.

To demonstrate these sentiments, we’ve brought on a guest reviewer in the form of this writer’s two-year-old daughter, whom we’ll dub Mini-Ollie. To finish, let’s find out what she has to say…

So, did you enjoy Bluey: The Videogame?

Yep!

What was your favorite part?

Duck! (Mini-Ollie is referring to a rubber duck that can be found in the Heeler’s bathtub.)

What was your least favourite part?

Pip-pop! (Mini-Ollie declined to answer this question and instead requested a lollipop, which we of course granted.)

Conclusion

Bluey: The Videogame successfully emulates the look and feel of the iconic TV show, but unfortunately it fails to recapture the same family magic. The gameplay is incredibly repetitive across the one-to-two-hour experience, relying on locating items dotted around the five core environments. Minigames break up the monotony somewhat, but even these fail to maintain attention for too long. That said, young children are going to get a kick out of simply existing within this world and playing as their favourite Bluey characters. If that's all you're looking to get out of this game, this does a decent job. But when you compare it to the all-ages magic of the show itself, and other family-focused games on Switch, this falls well short of the source material.

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