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Grapple Dog

Grapple Dog is a lot of fun, and for platform fans new or old it should provide plenty of entertainment. But the concept doesn’t push the ingenuity slider high enough, and many of its other tricks have been used aplenty elsewhere.
Grapple Dog Game Cover
83%Game Brain Score
gameplay, music
grinding, optimization
87% User Score Based on 563 reviews
Critic Score 79%Based on 19 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCXbox OneXboxSteam DeckWindows
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Grapple Dog Game Cover

About

Grapple Dog is a single player arcade platformer game with a kids theme. It was developed by Medallion Games and was released on February 10, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

Grapple Dog is an exhilarating 2D pixel-art platformer. Use your awesome grappling hook to clear tricky challenges as Pablo, the Grapple Dog! Sail across 6 colourful worlds with a crew of fearless adventurers to stop the robotic overlord Nul from destroying the world!

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Grapple Dog screenshot
Grapple Dog screenshot
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Grapple Dog screenshot
Grapple Dog screenshot
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Grapple Dog screenshot
Grapple Dog screenshot
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Grapple Dog screenshot
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87%
Audience ScoreBased on 563 reviews
gameplay85 positive mentions
grinding21 negative mentions
  • Charming pixel art style with large bold sprites and colorful environments reminiscent of GBA games.
  • Fun and satisfying grapple hook mechanic that drives fluid momentum-based movement and speedrunning potential.
  • Well-designed levels with a good difficulty curve, introducing new mechanics to keep gameplay fresh.
  • Great music and sound design that complement the energetic and playful tone of the game.
  • Generous accessibility options, including infinite jumps and health, making the game approachable for all skill levels.
  • Enjoyable boss fights and engaging character interaction with humorous and light story elements.
  • Grapple hook aiming is limited to three fixed directions, leading to occasional frustrating misses and stiff control.
  • Late-game levels and time trials can be punishingly difficult, featuring sporadic difficulty spikes and tedious backtracking.
  • Repetitive soundtrack with only one track per world that can become monotonous over extended play sessions.
  • Checkpoints are spaced far apart and some levels have one-way paths locking progress, forcing restarts to collect missed items.
  • Some control quirks like floaty air movement, slippery ground handling, and inconsistent grapple physics reduce precision.
  • Bugs and technical issues reported, including missing collectibles after deaths, stuttering, and the absence of cloud saves.
  • gameplay
    237 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Gameplay in Grapple Dog centers on a grappling hook mechanic that is simple to learn but challenging to master, offering a rewarding and fast-paced platforming experience with well-designed levels and regular introduction of new mechanics. While the core mechanics feel solid and fluid, some players find the grapple controls occasionally clunky or inconsistent, and later levels introduce difficulty spikes and frustrations such as forced collectables and occasional mechanical quirks. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its charm, flow, and challenge, though it may feel repetitive or imprecise for some, especially in the game's latter sections.

    • “The core mechanic revolves around Pablo, an enthusiastic canine hero equipped with a grappling hook that dramatically reshapes how levels are navigated.”
    • “The grapple mechanic works fantastically, the controls are tight and responsive, there's tons of stuff to collect, the difficulty is well balanced.”
    • “Despite those issues, I enjoyed this game a lot thanks to the easy to use but tough to master (professionally fast) grapple hook mechanic.”
    • “The hook mechanic is difficult to master at first and feels clunky to use, which is unfortunate considering it is the main gimmick of the game.”
    • “Controls feel clunky and unprecise, especially the hook which is the main mechanic of the game; levels are boring and slow.”
    • “Gameplay feels inconsistent, with noticeable delays such as standing around doing nothing when missing a cycle or waiting for grapple points, which interrupts the flow and is frustrating.”
  • music
    198 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its catchy, funky, and energetic style reminiscent of classic platforms like Game Boy Advance and games such as Jet Set Radio and Sonic Mania. However, many reviewers note the soundtrack's heavy repetition, with only one track per world, leading to listener fatigue over extended play sessions. Despite this, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature that significantly enhances the game's charm and momentum, though more musical variety would improve the overall experience.

    • “Catchy music, great art style and direction, universally funny dialogue, awesome character designs, adaptive audio and music, expert level design... the game just oozes soul outta it.”
    • “The music and the momentum have a 90s vibe that reminds me of Sonic Mania and the gameplay is light and fluffy.”
    • “The movement is very fluid, the music is amazing and the overall style of the game is top notch.”
    • “Unfortunately, the music repeats itself to exhaustion, the animations can't save the momentum mechanics combined with restricted grappling angles and charm can't hold against frustrating 'you went past the checkpoint, so start the level over to try to find purple stone'.”
    • “The music is the same for every stage in a world and while some of them were okay, others I was tired of immediately and I ended up turning the music off for much of the game (looking at you, world 1).”
    • “The soundtrack is all bangers but it's only one song for an entire world; I wish it had more variety because it can get annoying beating the level then doing time trials and only hearing the same song for an hour straight.”
  • graphics
    97 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their vibrant, colorful pixel-art style strongly inspired by GBA aesthetics, featuring bold, charming character designs and expressive, nostalgic visuals. The art style is described as cute, unique, and polished, complementing the soundtrack and level design to create an engaging and soulful atmosphere. While most find the visuals appealing and well-executed, a few critics view the retro pixel art as outdated and limiting due to lack of modern graphical options.

    • “I really love the visuals in this game; I saw somebody mention they seem very GBA inspired which does just hit the nail on the head for me; very big bold character sprites with colourful and clear environments.”
    • “The game's aesthetic is beautiful and feels like a mix of old-school GBA style with a modern touch-up.”
    • “Crisp visuals and soundtrack reminiscent of a first-party GBA game, a grapple hook that can make for some fun speeds (I am a sucker for swinging mechanics in games), and the first two worlds, I'll say, are genuinely fun.”
    • “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades old retro pixel 'art' as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
    • “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
    • “I really didn't enjoy the art style of this game.”
  • story
    57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in this game is simple, lighthearted, and serves primarily to motivate progression without detracting from gameplay, often described as charming and humorous but not deeply complex or groundbreaking. While some find it generic or thin, others appreciate its well-written dialogue, likable characters, and nostalgic, classic platformer vibes, with the gameplay and mechanics clearly being the main focus. Overall, the story complements the experience without overshadowing the polished, fun platforming.

    • “The art style of this game is so adorable, the story is funny, the characters are likable, the dialogue is well written, and the sound effects are cute as heck.”
    • “The story is simple enough to not overshadow the gameplay, but still gives you enough to keep you intrigued - and the music!”
    • “The story provides just enough context to motivate progression without interrupting the flow of play.”
    • “The game doesn't need a story; it interrupts gameplay with dumb cutscenes.”
    • “Lastly, like I already mentioned, the story is pretty weak.”
    • “And the story, which starts insipid, becomes unbearable.”
  • humor
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor is widely praised for its witty, charming, and genuinely funny dialogue that complements its adorable art style and likable characters. Players find the writing smart and engaging, with humorous moments that enhance the enjoyable, lighthearted experience. While most find the humor effective and endearing, a few felt the characters lacked depth despite the comedic intent.

    • “The art style of this game is so freakin adorable, the story is funny, the characters are likable, the dialogue is well written and the sound effects are cute as heck.”
    • “The art style is phenomenal, and the story is authentically generic for a brightly-colored platformer, but the writing makes up for it with lots of smart and funny lines.”
    • “Super tight controls and a hilarious story with funny characters and amazing visuals.”
  • grinding
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, especially in the latter half where difficulty spikes and backtracking for collectibles becomes frustrating. While early levels and mechanics are enjoyable, the later stages and mandatory gem collection for progression significantly hamper the flow and enjoyment, making the grind feel exhausting for many players.

    • “Sadly, it falls apart a bit in the second half; once the difficulty ramps up, the game also got incredibly tedious.”
    • “Boss levels are locked behind collectibles (gems in this case), and after a while it gets tedious to get them.”
    • “Just to give an example: the bosses have a pretty decent challenge, but usually their last phases are the most difficult; after you get beat in those last phases, you have to redo all the prior phases again, which get very tedious quickly.”
  • character development
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features adorable and expertly crafted character designs that complement its charming art style and humor. While it doesn't take itself too seriously, it includes moments of genuine character development that add depth to the experience. Overall, the characters contribute significantly to the game's distinct and soulful atmosphere.

    • “The game doesn't take itself too seriously, but still has a few moments of genuine conflict and character development.”
    • “Grapple Dog combines super smooth grappling mechanics, a great sense of humour, and fantastic character design to produce a truly standout gaming experience.”
    • “It's got an impeccable art style with adorable character designs, as well as really fun gameplay that escalates nicely in difficulty throughout the game.”
  • optimization
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization shows mixed results, with generally smooth performance on Steam Deck and Linux but some stuttering, lag, and technical issues present on other platforms. Initial loading glitches and occasional audio bugs have been reported, indicating room for improvement in future patches and on less powerful hardware like the Switch. Despite these issues, the game remains playable and enjoyable for fans of the genre.

    • “Performance on Steam Deck and Linux is great, absolutely no problems.”
    • “Decent performance on Steam Deck.”
    • “It still needs some work in the performance and accessibility departments, but fans of the genre should still check it out.”
    • “The game has a few technical issues like certain grappling hook spots not loading in right away and random stuttering across a few levels.”
    • “The other complaint I have was partly lagging and stuttering for the first few seconds when restarting from the last checkpoint or whole level, but hopefully these issues get fixed in future patches.”
    • “I hope to see this game optimized and updated for the Switch, as the gameplay issues I encountered slightly detracted from this short but sweet indie platforming gem.”
  • replayability
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers high replayability through optional collectibles, hidden routes, and bonus challenges that reward skill refinement and exploration. While the overall length is short, the variety in level design and engaging mechanics encourage players to revisit stages for mastery. Some quirks in movement and minor technical issues may require patience but do not significantly detract from the replay value.

    • “Optional collectibles and hidden routes encourage exploration and replayability, rewarding those who refine their movement and revisit earlier stages with newfound skill.”
    • “+Collectibles and bonus challenges that add a ton of replayability!”
    • “Grapple Dog is an approachable platformer with enough depth in its central mechanics to encourage replayability and mastery.”
  • emotional
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a wholesome and charming emotional experience through brief but delightful dialogue and character interactions, complemented by satisfying, polished gameplay reminiscent of classic platformers. While not deeply story-driven, its cheerful tone, adorable visuals, and engaging mechanics evoke a nostalgic and heartwarming feeling for players.

    • “This game isn't really focused too much on story (though one exists, again feeling very GBA-ish), but the gameplay itself had so much polish and love put into it that I'd say it may have actually reached me on an emotional level akin to what a good story would do for me.”
    • “Dialogue and character interactions are brief and charming, reinforcing the game’s cheerful tone rather than striving for emotional depth.”
    • “Throw in a little charming graphics and a bit of a wholesome story and Grapple Dog is the complete package.”
  • stability
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is generally stable and runs well, including on the Steam Deck, offering a mostly bug-free experience. However, occasional minor glitches and a few more impactful bugs, such as issues with respawning after deaths, have been reported. Despite these issues, the overall stability is good enough to make the game worth purchasing.

    • “On the whole, it is generally a charming and bug free experience with catchy, if limited music.”
    • “Plus it runs great on Steam Deck!”
    • “There are some glitches occasionally, most of which are minor but a couple did get me killed, both of which were around the re-spawning after falling into lava/vines.”
    • “Pretty fun but buggy.”
    • “Aside from some spelling mistakes, graphical glitches and bugs, this game is definitely worth picking up for the price!”
  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization is widely viewed as a cash grab, with the game perceived as low-quality pixel art often associated with quick, profit-driven releases rather than genuine value.

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79%Critics’ scoreBased on 19 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

Grapple Dog is a arcade platformer game with kids theme.

Grapple Dog is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One and others.

Grapple Dog was released on February 10, 2022.

Grapple Dog was developed by Medallion Games.

Grapple Dog has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Grapple Dog is a single player game.

Similar games include Kaze and the Wild Masks, RITE, Frogun, Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines, Bo and others.