LET’S PLAY Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets! #WAGPlays

Being an intern for an interstellar space station might seem to be a dream come true – except if you’re with Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets. Interning for a research scientist collecting aliens is all fun and games until said aliens start killing everyone in the ship. If you’re up for a thriller puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch, this might be the game for you.

Watch Chad and Rhenn play Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets, the new puzzle game from BeautiFun Games, on the Nintendo Switch.

They play chapter one, and they talk about how the art, the story thus far, and the controls. Watch as they guide Professor Lupo’s unfortunate intern through an exploding space lab while horrible creatures abound.

Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets: Not Remotely Horrible

In summary? We really liked it.

• The art is nice, animation is good, and the voice acting seemed alright.
• It made you scratch your noggin a lot, which is the whole point of a puzzle game.
• The monster designs are great, with varying levels of cute and horrifying.

Check out this terrifying vore-bunny… thing.

The Story in itself is interesting

We’ve only played through the first chapter, so there’s not much to spoil even if we share minor details. 

You’re an intern in the Aurora Space Station. You work for Professor Lupo who has an amazing selection of alien pets. Day in and day out, you were responsible for taking care of said pets. Except, well, for today – because something attacked the space station, releasing all the aliens in the process. We learn very early on that aliens and humans don’t mix and, well, you (the intern) have to run for your life. 

Fairly simple, right? I think the game plays on this simplicity in order to introduce more quirky “twists” to the space horror genre. The puzzle aspect in the game seem a perfect addition to the story’s mild mystery element.

If anything, the game doesn’t try to produce an amazing story. It’s got a cool and simple premise, quirky mechanics, and a willing intern to boot. If you’re gonna play Professor Lupo, we’re going to ask you to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the thrilling puzzles. 

Art design is quirky

Professor Lupo’s art is very spot on for a puzzle game. Its graphics don’t complicate, and its animations are very straightforward. You can easily make out elements integral to the game, and the game is easy on the eyes. It’s definitely asking you to relax and focus on the puzzles.

And the art style remains playful throughout the game. Which is interesting, because the aliens chasing us remain quite thrilling and scary. I guess it goes to show you don’t necessarily need to rely on realistic and gory graphics to make a suitable horror experience.

Gameplay is okay for a puzzle game

The way the monsters interact with the environment and other monsters is interesting as well. The game makes it easy for us to learn what all parts of the map can do.

There’s always a tutorial level that teaches us what to do for a specific mechanic. And afterwards, the game brings us to another level that requires us to apply said mechanic. This is a simple and effective way to embed mechanics to players’ heads.

Unfortunately, we found the motion controls largely unnecessary. Although you could get used to them, especially if you want to apply them in the game.

You can even see, in the video, that we struggled with the pointer, as gyro-based motion controls for docked play on the Switch aren’t as accurate as the infra-red sensors found on the Wii.

A Thrilling Puzzle Experience

At the core of it all, Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets is a great puzzle game. It contains some challenging puzzles for mystery-crackers out there. Plus, it’s got great monster, puzzle, and level design.

It’s in no way your stereotypical “alien satellite gone off-the-rails” kind of game. And once we’ve begun thinking of the game as such, the title is quick to remind us of how wrong we are. Its quirky art design, thrilling mechanics, and head-scratching puzzles are tied together by its story, all wrapped up in Douglas Adams-esque humor. 

You can get Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets on Steam and on the Nintendo eShop.

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DISCLOSURE: What’s A Geek! was provided a review copy of Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets, but it has in no way affected our opinion of the game. Nobody outside of What’s A Geek! has seen our video or review prior to publication.