Review: Those Games 2 Gets Genuinely Challenging

D3 Publisher’s Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let’s See You Clear Them series may sound like some gimmick. After all, the premise takes the games from mobile ads and turning them into actual minigames for each collection. Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let’s See You Clear Them, which we’ll call Those Games 2 going forward, extends the premise by bringing back one type of mobile game from the original and adding four more to the mix. It can get shockingly challenging sometimes!

The returning minigame based on fake mobile game ads in Those Games 2 is Pin Pull, aptly called Pin Pull 2. It draws inspiration from the ones where you see two sad people freezing or something, like the Homescapes ads, and you need to pull pins in the correct spots and order to get them coal to warm themselves up. These are joined by Draw & Guard (the one where you draw to save a Shiba Inu from bees), Knock-Back Shooter (Evony: The King’s Return), Numbers Dungeon (Hero Wars), and Spellbinding Scroll (also Evony). All of the inspirations are incredibly obvious, and they all play the way they seem to in those ads on places like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X. 

The number of puzzles for minigames vary, with some only being around 20 and others past 40. You earn up to three stars per stage depending on the speed with which you solve the puzzle. I was shocked going in at how strong all of the Those Games 2 minigames are, considering they are based on fake mobile ads. When I’d see the “inspiration” for Draw & Guard online, it usually seemed like a circle, a line shaped like a capital I, or one shaped like an H would do the trick. However, elements like fire or collapsing blocks mean it gets genuinely challenging. The first few stages of Knock-Back Shooter are incredibly easy, but after about 15 in I started only managing 1-2 stars per level due to needing to figure things out. (The brick blocks for areas helps with determining angles and where to shoot a lot!)

Pin Pull 2 and Spellbinding Scroll ended up being my favorites. In the case of Pin Pull 2, new elements like rocks that prevent things from getting past, switches, and items that can negate the heating or cooling effect of the items you’re trying to get to the bottom really do make you think about the proper order. I did notice a little control issue with pulling items in later stages, perhaps because so many pins were around. There’s a lot to consider though, and it’s genuinely thoughtful. With Spellbinding Scroll, the idea of knowing which one to “keep shooting” to make numbers go down seems easy. However, a few stages there left me really plotting when it came to prioritizing targets in a way I didn’t expect. I do wish it was a bit more responsive 

The only minigame based on a mobile ad in Those Games 2 that didn’t actualized properly is Numbers Dungeon. This isn’t because the concept isn’t sound or it was too easy. There are some great ideas here, such as dropping roads that keep you from doubling back, items that increase or reduce your number, and stages that really do require you to figure out the right “road” through what is actually a labyrinth of challenges. Rather, it’s the inputs. You can’t just press up, down, left, or right on the Switch. You have to cycle through the directions. That eats away at your time. Plus, while I got accustomed to that, I did accidentally send the little warrior down the wrong path twice. 

Minor missteps aside with controls side, Those Games 2 can be a genuinely strong minigame collection. It gives a perfect amount of games for each fake mobile game ad, so you don’t feel like they wear out their welcome. They do get genuinely challenging after the first 10 levels, in many cases. It’s a fun game to play when you just want to take 10-15 minutes to play something and feel smart, and doing so in short bursts helps keep you from noticing that some levels can get repetitive.

Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let’s See You Clear Them! 2 is available on the Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC via Steam.