Max: The Curse of Brotherhood

My first impression was that this looked like a Saturday morning cartoon somebody accidentally turned into a game, and honestly that first impression holds up. Press Play built a 2.5D physics-based puzzle-platformer across 7 chapters and 20 connected levels that flow together like one continuous run through a hostile fantasy world, and the whole thing wears a Pixar-grade visual coat that genuinely earns the comparison. Environments shift from lush forests to lava caves to eerie lantern-lit bogs, and a cinematic camera that zooms out to dwarf Max against massive backdrops gives the game a sense of scale that punches well above its budget. The central hook is the magic marker, and whether this game clicks for you will depend almost entirely on how you feel about it. You hold a trigger to summon it, then use an analog stick to target glowing interaction points on the environment, drawing earth columns to lift yourself, branches and vines to swing from, water geysers to ride, and eventually fireballs to dispatch enemies. The marker gains new powers progressively, and the late-game puzzles chain all of them together in ways that feel genuinely satisfying when they snap into place. Figuring out that vines can attach to rocks and move them, not just serve as ladders, is the kind of quiet eureka moment the game lives for. The puzzle design is the strongest thing here, full stop. The friction is real, though. Controlling the marker via analog stick is an inherently imprecise business, and that imprecision bites hardest during the action sequences where a monster is bearing down on you and you need to draw something fast. The platforming itself has a slightly floaty feel that divides people sharply, some find it imprecise, others adjust within an hour. The story is thin enough that you could summarize it in two sentences and lose nothing, and the game is short, roughly six to eight hours depending on how hard the puzzles humble you. Collectibles and achievements add mild replay incentive, but there is no second playthrough hook beyond completion. Who is this for? Players who enjoy quiet, methodical puzzle-platformers with a light difficulty curve and a visually rich world will get the most out of it. Parents looking for something approachable for older kids should know the monster-chase sequences have genuine tension and the puzzles do not hold your hand, so younger players may need a co-pilot. Anyone who bounced off the marker controls early should stick with it into the second chapter, because the early game undersells how inventive things get. If analog-stick precision puzzles under pressure sound like your specific nightmare, that frustration is real and documented, so go in knowing.

Alex · Scout Team

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