For better or worse, video games adapted from children’s media tend to be branded as simple money grabs that offer little for kids (and the adults who may ultimately be left playing alongside them) to enjoy. Despite being one of Australia’s greatest media exports of all time, Bluey was not exempt from this with Bluey: The Videogame in 2023, which delighted with its take on the series’ art style and use of the original voice cast – but was underwhelming in every other aspect. But today, we are looking at the second console gaming outing for the series, with a proper console port of Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen, which was originally released for iOS and Android last year, before being ported across to PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S at the end of last month. Developed by the Australian development team at Halfbrick Studios in my home state, and featuring a unique narrative by Joe Brumm and musical compositions by Joff Bush – it truly is a game which highlights how a love of the source material and a desire to take the time to develop an enjoyable game for youth – not just an easy cash grab – can make all the difference in crafting an enriching experience for all. But this is me getting a little ahead of myself… let me explain why I make this claim in my review of Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen.
The narrative of Bluey’s Quest for the Golden Pen wastes little in establishing itself as not something outside the main chronology of the series, but rather as one of the stories told by Bluey and her sister Bingo, alongside their parents. Penned by Joe Brumm, series creator, the tale feels every bit as warm and silly as a proper episode, only this time in the guise of a drawing activity turned video game. The setup is wonderfully familiar to anyone who has spent a rainy afternoon with the Heelers: Bluey and Bingo are happily drawing at the kitchen table when Bandit decides to hog the coveted gold pen for himself, reinventing himself as the villainous King Goldie Horns and whisking the prize away into a make-believe kingdom. From there, Bluey and her sister (now reimagined as the honking, egg-laying Bingoose) set off across a series of hand-drawn worlds to win it back, with Chilli acting as both the architect of these scribbled lands and a guiding hand along the way. The experience plays to the strengths of each character – even if I feel Bingo is a little bit robbed as a sidekick, with Chilli (mum) and Bandit (dad) both playing to their strengths as a creative, nurturing soul and a playful larrikin, respectively.
Visually, Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen is an absolute treat, and it represents a considerable leap forward from its predecessor. Rather than replicating the TV series’ aesthetic, the game leans into a hand-drawn, storybook aesthetic, with characters rendered as charmingly stylised versions of themselves and colours that cheerfully spill beyond the lines. The worlds themselves span a pleasing variety of themes, from lush forests, to sunny islands, to icy tundras and sun-baked deserts, and they are surprisingly generous in scale, with fast-travel signposts dotted about to spare you the worst of the backtracking. Each world is designed to be amply open, perhaps a bit too sparse, but it also allows a younger gamer to encounter each challenge separately, without too many distractions. The 2.5D presentation has a lovely sense of depth, and the whole thing runs smoothly given its modest technical demands.
On the audio side of Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen, Joff Bush’s compositions do a fine job of capturing the playful spirit of the series, even if the looping nature of the soundtrack started to wear on me during my longer collectible-hunting sessions. The voice work, meanwhile, is as you would expect – with the game bringing together the main cast of characters and their original voice actors. The cutscenes feature the genuine article, with the original Heeler cast lending the framing scenes that unmistakable Bluey charm, and they are all the better for it. Plus, Bingo’s… I mean… Bingoose’s honks are so gosh darn adorable!
At its core, Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen is a gentle collectathon with a distinctly Zelda-like flavour, built from the ground up with its young audience firmly in mind. The central loop is simple enough for the littlest of hands to grasp: you roam each world gathering “goose food”, feed it to Bingoose so that she can lay a magic egg, and that egg in turn produces whatever it is that the guardian blocking your path happens to need – with some levels having a different take on this structure. There is no combat to speak of, no game-over screen lurking around the corner, and tumbling off a ledge simply plonks you back where you started moments earlier. Crucially, you only ever need a fraction of a level’s collectibles to move on, which means there is never any real pressure to engage with the trickier challenges if a young player would rather press ahead.
What stops the formula from growing stale is the steady drip of new abilities and toys handed out across the adventure – so each world doesn’t feel the same in terms of transport. One level players may find themselves with a gilder, while the next may find themselves with a boat. The puzzles, too, show more imagination than you might expect, ranging from timed platforming dashes where you scramble to snatch stars before they vanish, through hide-and-seek style hunts with garden gnomes, to the occasional genuine brain-teaser. Are there Zelda-level puzzles? Probably not for adult gamers, as the puzzles are unlikely to stump you or offer much challenge. But for those three-to five-year-old gamers who may very well be picking up a controller for the first time – I can see how it encourages experimentation and exploration with them, making this a surprisingly good pick as a “kids first video game” experience – where they will come out with skills that will serve them well in future gaming adventures. For the completionists among us (or, more likely, the kids who simply cannot bear to leave a single bead uncollected), each world is positively brimming with optional goodies, and the final stretch of the game pulls its various ideas together into a climax that is far more inventive. Not too bad for a licensed children’s video game.
For some older gamers, there may be a few frustrations here and there. The objectives do have a habit of repeating themselves from one world to the next, and while the variety of abilities papers over a fair amount of this, the sense of déjà vu is hard to shake entirely. Bluey’s rather leisurely walking pace does not help matters either, particularly on the larger maps, where the absence of a sprint button can make getting from one corner to the next feel like a bit of a chore. Furthermore, there is a lack of cooperative play. Not so much that a game like this needs co-operative play, but I feel that it would be very on-brand for even an optional mode which would allow a parent or guardian to somehow play the game alongside their child – not necessarily making meaningful decisions but being able to provide a little extra support as Bingoose or Chilli if necessary.
For better, not worse, Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen shows what can happen when a licensed children’s game is treated as more than a quick cash-in. Its hand-drawn worlds, authentic writing, charming performances, and gentle collectathon structure make it a thoughtful first adventure for young players, even if older audiences may feel the repetition, slow pace, and lack of co-op support more keenly. It may not be a grand challenge, but it understands Bluey, understands children, and understands that simplicity does not have to mean laziness. Ultimately, it’s proof that with enough care, even a children’s tie-in can leave a meaningful mark.
Final Score for Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen
This review was conducted on a PlayStation 5 copy of the game, with a digital code provided by Five Star Games to facilitate the review.
Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen’s console version is now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S and PC.