There are weird games, and then there’s Judero: a delightful Scottish adventure with action figures and Harry Hausen-style stop-motion animation that pits you against fairies, lizards, and the English

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I already liked the demo Jewishfresh action-adventure game from the development duo Talah Kaya and Jack King-Spooner, but the full version of the game exceeded my expectations: Judero is weirdand it is definitely worth your time.

The art style is an immediate hook, using modified action figures and handmade clay models digitized into sprites, a distinctly 90-year-old kind of rendering reminiscent of Doom or the Talking Heads from Fallout 1. Meanwhile, cutscenes are fully stop-motion animated, and Spooner’s unsettling clay sculptures remind me Ray Harryhausen Or Phil Tippettego’s work.

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I’m maybe two-thirds of the way through Judero, and my favorite thing about it is how it keeps surprising me. Entering a house in one of the game’s villages changes the art style to psychedelic watercolors, while the residents offer disturbing, anachronistic musings on life, love, and living in a dying world. Opening a portal early in the game sent me to a classic Sonic-style bonus stage, while another, identical gate later sent me to a featureless void with a single coin to sustain me during the minute-long “bonus.”

Judero himself is a kind of warrior-druid who hails straight from the mists of old Caledonia, but in addition to fairies, lizardmen and “haggis” (pig worms), he also has to deal with the early English, plump gentlemen in glowing Renaissance stockings who shout:Carlisle!” over and over like they were Pokémon from Cumbria.

While I’m not as enamored with the action, it’s an adequate method of delivering what I’m here for, an effective bread-and-butter for the more seasoned atmosphere and exploration. I haven’t even gotten to the music, a mix of guitar-driven folk and cheeky funk that’s reminiscent of a forgotten era of ’70s British psychedelia. Stay tuned for our full Judero review , but consider this story an early indication that it’s worth the $18 ($16 on sale through September 23).

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