Please, Touch the Artwork 2 Review (PC)

There’s this old saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Unless, of course, it is broken, in which case you should fix it—prod it, even, with skeletal hands or a few boney fingers for an even greater effect. This is, in short, the basic setup for Please, Touch the Artwork 2: there’s a series of not-so broken pieces of art, and a desperate skeleton who, for some reason, wants to traverse the corridors of a museum and through the drips and droplets of such acrylic-studded paintings. It’s a simple concept, and rightly so, given that it is, in all fairness, the product of a single mindset—a mindset that also happens to be in receipt of a pretty fine eye for 20th century art, to boot.

For the record, Please, Touch the Artwork 2 is a free-to-play game that’s currently available on Steam, ad-free, and DLC-less. Granted, it isn’t the lengthiest game in the world, but where it lacks in depth, it most definitely makes up for in several other ways — its modern art, being the driving factor of the bunch. It’s also an easy game to sift through, too—a game that’s so easy, in fact, that anyone from the age, and I quote, “12-99” can bite into and play through to the bitter end. So, that’s a plus.

To cut a long story short, if you are hovering over the idea of picking up the sequel to Thomas Waterzooi’s Please, Touch the Artwork, but have yet to make your mind up, then be sure to read on. Here’s everything you should know about the newest entry in the indie search-and-find series for PC.

Break the Rules, Not the Bones

The goal of Please, Touch the Artwork 2 is all rather simple: highlight certain objects in one of several paintings, and help our skeletal friend romp through one location to the next whilst simultaneously unraveling an overarching narrative that pertains to the artist’s creations. It’s a search-and-find game, and so, naturally, you can expect to bump into your fair share of hidden trinkets and other sneaky so-and-so scribbles, too. Aside from the obvious task of having to unearth several items in each painting, there’s also the case of having to guide the protagonist through a series of environments—a task that requires a keen eye for detail, and an inquisitive mind to know where to click and what to unlock in order to progress deeper into the realm.

For the most part, the gameplay is all rather straightforward, as it’s more or less squelched down into bite-sized mini-games, which often require no fewer steps than simply dragging a line from one anchor point to the next, or highlighting key objects that correlate with an overarching puzzle or request. There isn’t a huge amount of variety here, but then, being an indie game that doesn’t go beyond a mere sixty-minute journey, it isn’t exactly something we can really slate, either.

All in all, you’ve got a good amount of interactive pieces of art to shovel through here, and thrice as many original characters to meet, interact, and solve puzzles with. And believe me when I say — these characters a little on the kooky side, what with their requests often having something to do with stealing a mustache or two. But that’s partly the reason why I fell in love with it: it kept me second-guessing, and even when I thought it was all out on the table, it simply wasn’t.

A Helping Hand

Whilst most puzzles are pretty self-explanatory, some of them can be a little tricky to crack — especially when such puzzles require a bit of backtracking or several random inputs. With that said, the game does, thankfully, offer a useful built-in hint system, one that essentially paints the entire solution out for you at the bottom of the screen. Granted, it does spoil the immersion ever so slightly, but it does also prevent you from grinding to a complete halt and clutching at straws — which is always a welcome addition, even in puzzle games.

Mechanically, there isn’t a huge amount to wrap your head around; it’s merely the case of pointing, clicking, and dragging a cursor from one location to the next. In a typical object-finding fashion, the bulk of the gameplay involves scrubbing over the crags and crevices of a painting, collecting one of several key items, and combining them to either bridge a gap between one location and another, or using them to stitch a new piece of the canvas that may or may not contain an additional clue.

For the most part, it’s all about moving from A to B, but every once in a while, certain paintings do require you to back several steps in the opposite direction. For example, one puzzle requires you to collect buckets to remove a leak from a boat, which can only be done by venturing to several other paintings and having a good ol’ rummage around. It isn’t anything overly complex, but it does require some extra time and effort, and not to mention a solid eye for detail.

A Love Letter to Art

Where most puzzles games opt for a modernized art style, Please, Touch the Artwork instead focuses on another curator of work—a Belgian surrealist painter who, to my knowledge, chalked up some of the most interesting pieces of work during the 20th century. This is, in ways, what the game is all for capturing: an interactive tribute to a 20th century artist whose work, whilst largely unknown to a younger audience, is still relevant even today.

Over the course of the sixty-minute journey, players are invited to walk in the same footsteps as the late painter—a trail that involves tiptoeing through some of his earlier, lesser known pieces, to some of the later, far more prominent ones that helped to revolutionize the theme and pave the way for future generations. To this end, it’s as much of a story-driven homage to the artist as it is a run-of-the-mill puzzle game with a litter of surreal fragments and unusual characters. And although a lot of that does play a minor role in the game’s overall design, it’s fair to say that Please, Touch the Artwork is a true love letter to the creator’s legacy.

I’ll put my hands up and say this: I was never all that familiar with the artist’s work, to begin with, and so, having strolled through the casket of paintings, I’m inclined to give credit where it’s due. Its puzzles might not have been all that memorable, but its chosen art style, on the other hand, was something that I instantly felt compelled to spool through — even though I had little to no recollection of its existence.

Verdict

Please, Touch the Artwork 2 is a simple, clean-cut, search-and-find interactive art piece that’s both as equally beautiful as it is wacky. Again, it isn’t the bulkiest puzzle game in the world, but given the fact that it is, of course, a free-to-play game, and one that serves as a tribute to modern art, it’s hard to shoot it down as a mere cash grab. It’s a lot more than that, truly, and so, if it’s a short romp through a treasure trove of portraits and artsy set pieces that you’re after, then you’re sure to find a good amount of bits and bobs to keep you entwined for the short haul.

The good news is, you don’t need to be a die-hard fan of puzzle games in order to enjoy what’s on offer here, as most, if not all obstacles in its banquet are easy to solve and, not to mention, perfectly digestible. And even when they’re not, the fact that there are hints to help scoot you in the right direction means that you’re never quite at a standstill or left foraging for answers.

As for where the series will venture to next is still a bit of a mystery. With that said, if its developer does decide to keep with the same formula for a third installment, then it’s sure to be as equally as inviting as its predecessors, for sure.