Promenade is one of those indie games that grabs your attention with its charm, and quietly becomes one of the best surprises you’ve played in a long time.

I went in expecting something cute. What I got was a precise, emotional, and deeply satisfying 2D collectathon that might be the closest thing we’ll ever get to Mario Odyssey in 2D.

At its core, Promenade is built around a simple but incredibly effective loop: collect cogs to power up the Great Elevator, unlock new levels, and repeat. Sound familiar? It should. That structure is timeless, and here, it’s executed with confidence. If you grew up on platformers like Banjo-Kazooie, Mario 64, or Donkey Kong 64, this game feels like coming home.

What makes Promenade stand out is how much it trusts the player. There’s no hand-holding. No lengthy tutorials. The game drops you into its colourful world and lets you figure things out for yourself. The puzzles are clever. The platforming is tight. And the joy of slowly unraveling how each world works is half the fun. When you finally nab that tricky cog you’ve been eyeing for 10 minutes? It hits just right.

And that art style is what pulled me in initially. Soft pastels, expressive characters, and smooth animations give Promenade a cozy, dreamlike atmosphere. But underneath all that cuteness is a game that’s thoughtful and layered, both in its mechanics and its story.

Speaking of the story, it’s surprisingly emotional. There’s no dialogue. No lengthy cutscenes. Just small visual cues and environmental storytelling that, if you’re paying attention, slowly reveal a subtle coming-of-age narrative. You can ignore it and still enjoy the game, but if you pay attention, there’s something genuinely touching going on in the background.

The only area where the game lost me a little was the developer trial runs. These are ultra-precise challenge levels designed to test your skills, and while I admire the craftsmanship, they took me out of the flow. I ended up skipping most of them. Thankfully, just beating them twice is enough.

On the other hand, collecting every cog? Totally worth it. Every world is packed with secrets, and finding each cog never felt like a chore. It felt like a reward in itself.

I'm a bit disappointed that the 100% is locked behind a speedrun achievement, of which I'm extremely terrified to attempt. But I'd love to one day have this game in my list of 100% completed games.

If I had to sum up Promenade in two words, it would be: dopamine rush. Everything from the movement to the sound design to the feedback loop of discovering, unlocking, and collecting just clicks. I found myself intentionally dragging out the endgame just to keep living in its world a little longer.

I didn’t expect this one to stick with me, but it did. Promenade is proof that 2D collectathons still have a place and can be just as engaging, rewarding, and emotionally deep as their 3D counterparts. If you’ve been sleeping on it, don’t. This one’s truly special and deserves a place in any gamer's library.