One of the more beloved indie darlings in recent memory is a painting adventure called Chicory: A Colorful Tale. It revolves around a small anthropomorphic dog who is working as a janitor for the Wielder, an individual who is in charge of bringing color to the world.
One day, the world loses its color, and the player character takes on the responsibility of reversing this after the current wielder, Chicory, gives up the role. Chicory: A Colorful Tale is not overly complex, but there are some elements of the gameplay and story that are worth knowing ahead of time before diving in.
8 Tackling Heavy Subjects
On the surface, Chicory may seem like a bright, cheerful adventure. However, the game does have a crucial story point that tackles mental health and how one views themselves when given a massive responsibility.
Chicory, in particular, is a rather complex character who became stressed out with the pressure put on her. The player witnesses her struggles, especially after she gives the paintbrush up. This game is so much more than just painting a world and meeting funny characters, so be prepared to tackle heavier subjects.
7 You Can Auto-Fill Areas Immediately
The primary gameplay revolves around exploring areas that have been stripped of their color. Using the paintbrush provided, players can begin coloring in everything that is on their screen. Some objects that are painted can change once they are in color.
For some, this may feel like a lot of work. However, if players simply hold the brush button, a ring of paint will slowly begin to grow bigger and bigger until it covers the entire frame. In later parts of the game, players may stumble upon a fill bucket attachment that does the same thing only in one click.
6 Look For Lost Kids
When exploring Luncheon for the first time, one of the residents the player will run into is a cat named Beans. She will be missing a few of her kids and asks the player to go out and look for them. The kids are actually kittens that hide inside various objects around Picnic.
When looking for them, the object they are in will shake and potentially meow. If players click on the object a few times, the kid will come flying out. There are actually a lot of kids to find, and after finding a specific amount, Beans will offer the player a few sets of furniture they can use to decorate.
5 Pick Up The Trash
There are quite a few collectibles in Chicory: A Colorful Tale, but the one object type that is overwhelmingly found throughout the world is the litter. These piles show up pretty much everywhere, with some frames having north of four pieces of litter for the player to pick up.
It's important to collect these litter piles as they become a currency for multiple stores all around Picnic. Shops that players can go to for exchanging the litter are The Plant Exchange in Dinners, Ixora in the Grub Deep, and The Litter Collector in the Teatime Meadows.
4 Swimming Changes Everything
There is a lot of exploring in this game, but early on, players will not have the ability to check out some of the areas since they require specific abilities. One of the abilities that players gain later on in Chicory: A Colorful Tale is swimming in the paint that is drawn.
This is essentially a sprint button that allows players to not only zoom really fast through specific frames but also access sections that only have entrances that are low to the ground. After Chapter 4, players will earn the ability to swim up striped walls, further enhancing the traversal. So don't get to disheartened about not accessing everything out of the gate.
3 Clusters Contain Secrets
While traveling around Picnic, each frame is fairly unique and has its own set of challenges and paths to go down. That's why it is incredibly important to keep an eye out for anything that may look suspicious.
Specifically, players should keep an eye on natural plants and flowers that form some kind of cluster or circle. That's because, if a player goes near them, these clusters will begin to shine. Play around with the paint in these areas and the player will be rewarded with a gift that likely contains either a clothing item or a brush style.
2 Talk To Every NPC
If there's something the developers make clear with this game, it's that they want the player to talk to as many individuals as possible. There are exchanges that will make the player laugh, along with others that are truly heartfelt. A great example of this is using the phone booths to talk to Mom and Dad as they give advice on how to proceed.
Each character has its own unique personality, with some of them showing up frequently to comment on the player's progress or the environment. In addition, some characters will ask the player to help them with a specific task or present a puzzle to them. This is a great way to earn more clothing and brush styles.
1 Painting Everything Isn't Necessary
As mentioned earlier, it may feel daunting starting up Chicory: A Colorful Tale since it may seem like it is asking the player to paint everything in sight given the fact that the world is black and white at the beginning. The truth is that players don't have to worry about coloring everything.
A lot of the drawing is up to the player's discretion and will not affect the result of the game if players decide not to fill out the virtual coloring book. That said, painting certain things is necessary to navigate the world and solve its puzzles, so the ability to add color to the world isn't completely optional.
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is available on PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC.