Octodad: Dadliest Catch review – bizarre premise makes for memorable game

Novel gameplay and an excellently bizarre premise make Octodad a game not quickly forgotten. Players control the cephalopod – beginning with his wedding day to a seemingly oblivious human female – and control is key, specifically in taking charge of individual limbs to awkwardly manoeuvre the creature. This must be achieved with care: draw attention to yourself and there is a risk of people noticing your true genus. The first task, for example, requires dressing for the wedding, but then the kids come along and the missions kick up a notch – mowing the lawn, chasing your son up a fiendishly frustrating kelp-themed jungle gym – with marine biologists on the lookout for rogue sealife, and the occasional interruption from an enraged chef. It sounds odd because it is, but the strange interaction between the burbling avatar – think a mute Dr Zoidberg from Futurama – and his blissfully unaware family is much of the fun in this pleasingly odd gem.