There is nothing that young Andrew likes better than to head out to his favourite fishing spot near his grandfather’s camp. The only problem is that the area between the camp and the fishing spot is home to the fearsome sidehill gougers. With his slingshot firmly tucked in his back pocket and fishing gear in hand, Andrew slowly starts to make his way down the path to the fishing hole.

The first question that will come to the mind of most who will play the game is what exactly a sidehill gouger? According to folklore, a sidehill gouger is a creature that has adapted to living life on a steep hill by having shorter legs on one side of their body. Their physical abnormality forces the sidehill gougers to spend their entire lives living on a hill and traveling only in one direction. At least that is how the stories go. The sidehill gougers in the game appear to share very little with the mythological creatures as these appears in open plains, in the forest and in swamps. Also the sidehill gougers in the game appear quite vicious while the traditional stories about these creatures mention that they are docile herbivores.

The game itself is a strategy/puzzler in which Andrew must locate the sidehill gouger and knock him out with his slingshot before he can proceed down the path to his favourite fishing location. The game is divided up into three fishing days, each one corresponding to a difficulty setting. Each day, Andrew must complete nine levels to reach his fishing spot; three in the open fields, three in the forest and three more in the marsh. Each game level is divided up into a grid comprising of fifty-four areas in a six by nine layout with the sidehill gouger hidden in one of the areas. Each area may contain a clearing or a curved path. To locate the sidehill gouger, Andrew must carefully investigate each area looking for the telltale signs of the fearsome beast and knock him out with his slingshot allowing him safe passage to the next game level. Andrew must accomplish this task without ever stepping in the same area as the sidehill gouger or it will spots him and scare him away.

The good thing is that sidehill gougers are easy enough to track. They are notorious messy eaters, leaving a blood trail that can be tracked two clearings away from its current location. The sidehill gouger is not the only thing that Andrew must concern himself. Each game level may contain one or more pits dug by the sidehill gouger that will cause Andrew injury if he falls into and must be avoided. The pits can be located by looking for the leaves that will be present in the clearing next to the pit. On top of the sidehill gouger and its pits, Andrew must watch out for a couple more fictitious beasts present in the game. Hidden in clearing are treesqueaks and hidebehinds. Treesqueaks are squirrel like creatures that live on berries and fruits. They are extremely well camouflaged and very difficult to see, but they are quite easy to hear as they posses a very distinctive high-pitch cry. If Andrew walks into a clearing that contains a treesqueak, he get a warning shrill then the next time the treesqueak is disturbed he may carry Andrew to another part of the game field. Those pesky treesqueaks are not against dropping our fishing friend on top of the sidehill gouger or its lair either. Finally we are introduced to hidebehinds. Legend dictates that the “hidebehinds” are dangerous fearsome critters who are master at concealing themselves by hiding behind things such as trees and bushes or even their prey before pouncing on their unsuspecting victim. In Sidehill Gougers, the hidebehinds are not as vicious, but will cause Andrew to forget were he has been if stumbled upon more than once.

If the game sounds familiar, it is partially because it is. Sidehill Gouger is basically a modern version of classic computer game “Hunt the Wumpus”. Replacing the Wumpus is the sidehill gouger and the bat was been swapped for the treesqueak. This is not to say that the game is a simple clone. Sidehill Gouger does add a lot to the game to make the experience fresh and worth playing. For example the hidebehinds do not have any equivalent in Hunt the Wumpus as this is a new addition to this game.

While the sidehill gouger is the focus of the game, the real evil is the curved paths. A curved path does not count as a clearing and therefore can easily offset the two clearing count when trying to determine the location of the sidehill gouger or its pits. The rule that there will be two consecutive clearing containing blood marks around the location of the sidehill gouger can be offset by several curved paths in between each clearing. There is simply no easy way of knowing if an area contains a clearing or a curved path without exploring all the areas around it. If Andrew shoots his slingshot into an area that does not contain the sidehill gouger, he will alert the creature and must retreat to try the level again.

The game looks great with simple but effective classical 2D sprite based artwork. Canned Games also mixed things up by offering three distinctive gaming zones (open field, forest and marsh land) each with its own colourful tile-set. The music is calming and perfect to allow your brain to perform the mental calculations required to elevate your game above simply stumbling upon a sidehill gouger to hunting the mythical creature.

The game does incorporate many different extras that will keep gamers coming back for more. One such bonus is the inclusions of trophies. For those extremely gifted trackers who require a challenge, there are fishing trophies to be obtained. To obtain these trophies, the player must locate and knock out all sidehill gougers in one day without missing or being scare once or complete them all under a specific time. This is a nice addition that adds a lot of replay value to the game. The only negative aspect of the trophies are that they force the game to be played in a way not intended. For example the trophy related to completing all areas under par time can only be obtained by luck as there is not enough time to actually hunt. I just replayed each area over and over again till I was lucky enough to stumble upon the critter quick enough to beat the par time. Gone was any actual strategy element to the game. But this was just to receive a trophy fish and in no way is anyone actually required to play in this fashion and a game play style that I would not recommend to anyone other than the purpose of getting a bigger trophy fish for it does make for a boring game.

With multiple difficulty settings, trophies, various challenges, Sidehill Gouger is a great game that will offer a fun filled gaming session at a small time price.