It's a familiar story: nerds like girls, girls hate nerds, girls love robots. Oh, and everybody loves pie. Apart from robots.
Those are just a handful of the rules you need to keep in mind if you're going to survive Popcannibal's loveably barmy, seating plan-obsessed puzzler.
It gets even more complicated as you play. You see, nerds also like robots and robots like girls, but robots hate being surrounded by too many girls. That quiet one in the corner? She loves bugs. And on it goes.
Why does all this matter? This interlocking list of likes and dislikes forms the basis of Girls Like Robots's 100-plus levels of brain-busting tile-placement action.
In pursuit of happinessYou're given a grid and a set of character tiles and then tasked with scoring as many points as possible, maximising the happiness of each character by popping it next to something it loves.
Move a robot next to a girl, for instance, and both will be absolutely delighted. Seat a nerd next to a girl next to a robot, though, and the girl's mood slumps to neutral, stripping points from your overall tally. As you can imagine, it gets fairly complicated.
Thankfully, a nicely judged difficulty curve slowly introduces all these elements so it's never overwhelming. And the game's wonderful sense of humour and delightfully off-kilter presentation help to keep stress levels down as the logic testers grow ever more elaborate.
Moving PartsIt's a nifty concept, but one that quickly grows repetitive in its basic state. Luckily, Popcannibal seems well aware of these limitations and delights in twisting the game's core setup in constantly surprising new ways.
Some levels feature characters that move around the grid, while other challenges include deliberately attempting to make everyone miserable, engaging in some falling-block-style tile-switching, using girls to repel bugs around the board, and even bouncing incoming tiles at man-eating monsters.
It's a wonderfully creative little gem that's always fresh and engaging while never losing sight of its logic puzzle core. That its gleeful free-wheeling structure also manages to incorporate a loony but loveable tale of high school dances, day trips to an active volcano, lasers, and explosive chicken tossing just makes it even more of a delight.
Girls might like robots but, thanks to its recklessly creative outlook, we like Girls Like Robots even more.