Grapple Dog, the cute grapple hook platformer about a dog, launches Feb 10th

Grapple Dog is one of those games I’ve been watching on Twitter for years. It’s a 2D platformer in which you play as a dog with a grappling hook. Grappling hooks are the best thing in video games, and I am fully ready to swing through a colourful, cute platformer. To my infinite delight, Grapple Dog now has a release date: February 10th.

I like that Grapple Dog doesn’t seem to be resting on its grappling laurels. Alongside the by-now standard walljumping, Pablo, the dog at the centre of the game, also seems to be able to roll up like a ball and bounce really high. There’s plenty going on in the level design, too, including floating bubbles of water to swim through and jump between, as well as chase sequences and boss fights.

Grapple Dog is primarily the work of pixel artist Joseph Gribbin, whose Twitter account has been entertaining me with GIFs for the past couple of years. Look how satisfying this seems. I’m particularly fond of the overworld between levels, which you navigate with the cutest steamboat.

The full game will contain 33 levels spread across 6 worlds, plus bonus levels and secret areas to find. There are also optional collectibles, a time trial mode, and “in-built accessibility options to play without restrictions.” I like platformers a lot and I’m decent at them, but I’m a big fan of the increasingly common practice of them just letting you futz with their rules if you want to. “Have fun however you see fit,” says the Grapple Dog press release. Good stuff.

You can wishlist Grapple Dog on Steam to be notified when it launches on Feb 10th.