POPUCOM

A cozy puzzle adventure where color-matching turns into chaos — with lasers, rainbows, and oddly cute cube creatures.

See on Steam

POPUCOM – Full Review: Colorful Chaos and Co-op Surprises
I wasn’t planning to play POPUCOM. I just saw a couple of screenshots — bright colors, weird little creatures, and something about “rainbow beams” — and figured, why not? Fast forward two evenings later, and I’m yelling at a friend about lasers and candy cubes while a giant fluffball rolls toward us.

Let me walk you through what happened.

So, what is POPUCOM exactly?
At first glance, it’s a puzzle-platformer with heavy match-3 vibes. But saying that feels like calling a rollercoaster “a seated ride.” POPUCOM starts simple — you shoot colored balls, match three of the same, and the cubes disappear. But then come switches, timing puzzles, enemies, and weirdly elaborate co-op mechanics.

It’s like someone tossed Tetris, Overcooked, and a splash of Splatoon into a blender and sprinkled some anime sugar on top.

The start: adorable and suspiciously easy
The first few levels feel like a Sunday morning cartoon. You’re in a candy-colored world, accompanied by these bouncy cube creatures (called Popus) that look like living sugar cubes with eyes. You shoot color blobs with a gun that feels like a bubble cannon, and everything goes poof in a satisfying burst.

I thought, Okay, this is cute, I’ll breeze through it.
I was wrong.

Then the chaos kicks in
By level 7, things go from cozy to full-blown co-op panic. Timed gates. Split paths. One player handling lasers while the other clears a path. You start talking in fragments like “RED LEFT! NO, BLUE! NO WAIT—TOO LATE!”

The coordination feels like learning a dance with someone who’s mildly panicking — but in a fun way. Even solo, the puzzles require planning. You switch between characters, each with unique abilities. One can freeze cubes, another can teleport through colored walls. And somehow, it all comes together in these weird “aha!” moments that made me grin like a kid.

Aesthetics: pastel chaos done right
Visually, POPUCOM is like someone built a theme park out of marshmallows and jellybeans, then gave it anime lighting and a synth-pop soundtrack. Everything is saturated and cheerful — but not in a fake, overly shiny way. It feels lovingly handcrafted, like someone really wanted this to be a happy place.

The UI is simple, the characters are expressive without speaking, and the music gets surprisingly intense during later levels. Shoutout to the level where the music suddenly drops into a bass-heavy rhythm just as things get nuts — I still don’t know if it was scripted or just perfect timing.

Who is this game for?
Honestly? I think it depends.

If you're into fast-twitch action or serious strategy, this probably isn't your thing. But if you like puzzle games that lean into charm and experimentation — especially with a friend — POPUCOM delivers something refreshing.

It’s great for short bursts, perfect for couch co-op, and kind of addictive in a “one more level” way. I played some solo, but it really shines in two-player mode. You’ll argue, you’ll high-five, you’ll mess up in hilarious ways — it’s that kind of game.

Little annoyances (because yes, there are a few)
Okay, real talk: not everything is smooth. There were a few camera issues in tight spaces — especially when levels had vertical layers. The auto-zoom sometimes made it hard to see enemies or switches.

Also, there’s a learning curve with the color mechanics. Sometimes it’s not clear why something didn’t match, especially when the game introduces blended colors. I ended up guessing a few times instead of solving.

And if you’re playing solo, switching between characters mid-puzzle can feel a bit clunky. It’s manageable, but not as seamless as co-op.

Moments that made it worth it
There’s one level where you have to bounce colored lasers across mirrors while dodging rolling cubes and syncing levers. We failed it three times. On the fourth try, everything just… worked. We didn’t even cheer — we just sat in stunned silence, like, “Did that really just happen?”

That’s POPUCOM in a nutshell: chaotic, oddly touching, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious.

Final thoughts (no scores, just vibes)
POPUCOM surprised me. I went in expecting something cute and forgettable — a filler game for a quiet evening. But what I got was a joyful mess of puzzles, teamwork, and color explosions that stuck in my mind way longer than I expected.

If you’ve got a friend to play with, or you’re just in the mood for something light and weirdly clever, give it a shot. It’s not trying to be deep. It’s not trying to win awards. It’s just doing its own thing — and doing it with a big, bright grin.

And honestly? That’s enough for me.

— Max