Googootrops (グーグートロプス)
Developer: Produce
Release Date: 2001
Platforms: PlayStation
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Googootrops, a possible play on the Paranthropus genus, is conceptually similar to Artdink’s Tail of the Sun. Like that game, Googootrops has you hunting mammoths, but in this case, you’re looking for a particularly special one called the “Boss Boss Mammoth”, which has the best tasting meat in the world. Instead of toughing it out on your own, you get to build a team of up to six cavepeople and micromanage them to success. It’s an ambitious, truly unusual game, but it requires extreme patience to deal with its many quirks.
Like an RTS, you have to use a cursor to tell characters where to go and what to interact with. Each character has limited inventory slots and specializes in certain tools, encouraging you to frequently swap items. The protagonist specializes in pretty much everything from building bridges to cutting down trees, whereas other characters get more specific abilities like farming or crafting items. One of the characters is the child of the protagonist and the only woman in the group, so you’ll have to build a house in order to give birth to him! As you explore, eat food, and defeat animals, your team will gain more health, strength, and movement speed. Aging occurs over the course of the game as well, reducing potential growth in exchange for more item slots.
Unfortunately, the pathfinding and AI in Googootrops are terrible. Characters will sometimes ignore directions and get hung up on pointless tasks. Characters refuse to stop moving even when you’re not commanding them, which can get them into trouble. Trying to exchange items is a nightmare because a character who drops an item will immediately rush to pick it back up. Combat often feels random since there’s no guarantee everyone will join the fight. If someone dies, you have to trek all the way back to the beginning of the game to revive them. In a game where you’re frequently interrupted by mandatory breaks for sleeping whenever nighttime hits, getting around can be downright agonizing.
Googootrops often fluctuates between long stretches of downtime and little bouts of frustration with getting your cavepeople to do what you want, but like Tail of the Sun, there’s an undeniable allure to progressing further into it. As you build up your crew, once daunting tasks become significantly easier and things get just weird enough to pleasantly surprise you towards the end. It’s not a game most people will enjoy, but for the exceptionally patient, it’s the perfect encapsulation of the limitless creativity the PS1 is known for.
