Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a very minimalistic 3D platformer that gets a lot of things right in terms of gameplay and feel, although it has its shortcomings in other areas.

I can't say I remember any bugs (if there were), the story is sufficient (the game is suitable for children), and the levels show a welcome variety of tasks to complete.

Sometimes you just need a good 3D platformer as a fun palette cleanser after a grueling at time at work - that's where Koa and the Five Pirates comes in, as a charming little level-based platformer that doesn't overstay its welcome, and packs just enough variety in to stay interesting, but not enough to really climb into the realm of idiosyncrasy.

The protagonists are neat, the graphics are vibrant and colorful, and it's a lot of fun to bounce around the levels.

The soundtrack complements this with cheerful, calming tunes that reinforce the sense of adventure and wonder without ever becoming intrusive.

Koa plays well across the board; I played it on my Steam Deck and was overall really satisfied with the smooth 60 FPS performance.