Overview – developed by Axyos Games and published by Eastasiasoft, Neko Secret Room is a mature title where players must solve grid based puzzles. As puzzles are completed by the player additional, sexier images will be unlocked with 12 girls to reveal. This title is available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch system, with a link to the game available at the bottom of the review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Eastasiasoft for providing the copy of Neko Secret Room that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has no influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Mature Content Warning: this title is intended for mature audiences, with sexual content, nudity and heavy fanservice elements present. If you are under the recommended age or find the content mentioned offensive, please proceed at your own discretion.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review. There is little in terms of story with this title, so I will be moving directly into discussing gameplay.
Gameplay – Neko Secret Room is a simple puzzle title, where the player has infiltrated a photographer’s room and must complete grid based puzzles to access the images they have taken. There are 12 girls to select when accessing the ChanOS system where they are located, split into two catagories, Favorite Photos and Photo Session. Both categories have a total of 6 girls, each with three puzzles to complete, bringing the total up to 36.
These puzzles are simple enough for anyone to figure out at the start, with a 5×5 grid for the first puzzle of each girl. But they will become more complicated and explicit as each puzzle is cleared. The puzzles start with the girls fully clothed, becoming increasingly lewd (with the lewdest parts censored). Once all the puzzles are complete, players can view the images at their leisure or replay the puzzles freely, trying to clear them as fast as possible.
To solve the puzzles, the player swaps pieces to put them into the correct places, with the best the way to match pieces up being using the outside parts of the image. It can take a few minutes to figure out where some of the pieces fit, but others can be lined up fairly easily. The most difficult parts of the puzzles are the background pieces, which can be quite tough to match up with the subtle details. But, they can be completed if enough time has been spent.
Outside of the puzzles there are some simple activities that can be accessed in the two explorable rooms. These rooms are a bedroom and bathroom, which can be explored in a free roaming manner. The player character can move freely around the room, activating an activity when touching a marker on the floor, with one for each activity. The main marker is by the computer, where the puzzles are located with three additional activity markers.
These additional activities are as follows:
- Dance – the player character will dance in place, which is a little confusing as there is no addition music that is played aside from the standard background music.
- Darts – the player can take part in a darts match against an A.I. opponent, playing a game of 301. Unfortunately the controls are uncooperative, which makes it hard to aim well and the bot opponent is unfairly accurate winning the majority of matches.
- Outfit Change – the player can change their characters look by customizing her hair, selecting an outfit and changing accessories. The player can also change the characters skin color, breast/thigh size and height.
These additional activities don’t really add much to the experience, as the majority of playtime is spent with the puzzles. This means that the player character won’t be seen, aside from the opening cutscene and when roaming the two rooms, which feels like a waste unfortunately. The overall experience is fairly simple, with the limited number of puzzles and the rather sparse free roaming sections/activities outside of the puzzles.
Now with the gameplay covered, I will be moving onto the other elements of the game, starting with the controls.
Controls – the controls are very simple, the camera is moved by the right stick and the player character is moved with the left stick. The face buttons control menus and interactions, being used for the Darts mini game, the outfit changer and the puzzles. When leaving an activity there is a pause which takes a few moments and the inputs are not recognized. The best part of the controls is the touch screen capabilities, as the menus and puzzles can all be navigated with the screen in handheld mode.
Presentation – the overall look and aesthetic of the game is basic but pleasant to look at with some fanservice/sexualized content included. The artwork for the puzzles has an anime look to it, with beautiful artwork for the girls featured that cover a range of looks and themes. The rendered rooms that exist outside of the puzzles are basic, with some simple animations and cute elements. The sound for this release is just as simple as the visuals, with a simple soundtrack and limited sound effects.
Final Thoughts – overall this is a very simple experience, with a variety of attractive girls, simple to understand puzzles and mature content. There is a lack of substance outside of the puzzles, with only a few things that can be done. Unfortunately, this titles greatest strength is also one of its biggest flaws, since all 36 puzzles can be completed fairly quickly.
The total game time can be about 2 hours at most, which I feel is sufficient for the low cost. I can recommend this title to players who are looking for an easy lewd puzzle title at a modest price point. However, please bear in mind that this is a rather bare bones gameplay experience, with only 12 girls that have 3 image variants each.
In the end, I give Neko Secret Room a final score of 3/5. This simple but enjoyable puzzle experience is sadly marred by the short length of time, but this is balanced out by the high quality of the featured artwork and variety of themes to them, with 12 alluring female characters at a budget price point. If you want to check this game out for yourself, a link to the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
W.Kohaku Media 