Out of nowhere, no announcement, no pre‑release trailer, not even a cheeky tease, Red Art Games just unleashed Gobliiins Collection a few days ago. And that made me immensely happy, because I ’effing love Gobliiins. I didn’t even have to put in a review‑code request; one simply materialised in my inbox like a gift from the mischievous gods of ’90s gaming. That made me immensely happy again, because I ’effing love Gobliiins.

“A wave of nostalgia is in the air! One of the most memorable and delightfully zany point-and-click adventures of its time is back. Discover – or rediscover – the origins of this legendary saga, from the creative genius of Pierre Gilhodes, in this exceptional collection. From its pixelated beginnings in the 1990s to today, this compilation brings together the first five iconic titles that captivated a whole generation.”

What you get here is Gobliiins (1991), Gobliins 2 (1992), Goblins 3 (1993), Gobliiins 4 (2009), and Gobliiins 5 (2023). Five games spanning decades of beautifully unhinged puzzle design. If you’ve never played a Gobliiins game before, allow me to educate you with the enthusiasm of a man who’s been waiting years for someone to ask.

The Gobliiins series is often labelled as point‑and‑click adventures, but that’s only half the story, and I’ve never really thought of them that way, not in the classic LucasArts or Sierra style anyway. They’re really puzzle games wearing a point‑and‑click coat, and a slightly ill‑fitting one at that. The mechanics are simple, move a cursor, click on things, but the puzzle logic is delightfully deranged. Never unfair, never cruel, but always gleefully non‑sequitur. The humour is the logic. The logic is the humour. And somehow, it all works There’s also a wee bit of help: hold a button and the game highlights all interactable objects. It doesn’t solve anything for you, it just saves you from pixel‑hunting yourself into madness. I genuinely can’t remember if this was in the originals (it’s been thirty‑odd years), but it comes in handy when you get stuck.

The collection isn’t just a bundle of games, it’s a lovingly assembled time capsule. From the main menu, you select a title and are presented with a digital recreation of its original box, complete with rotatable 3D model and readable back cover. Pick a title and you’re treated to a short animation of a disk being inserted into a PC. Entirely pointless. Entirely charming. Along with the games, you also get a music player (presented as a CD with a jewel case) with the full soundtrack for all five games, there’s an interesting five‑part documentary with series creator Pierre Gilhodes, loads of concept art and assorted archival goodies. It’s a surprisingly generous package, the sort of thing other retro collections claim to offer but rarely deliver with this much sincerity.

For the first three games, you can choose between: Original floppy versions (DOS only, no Amiga), EGA or VGA graphics. Or you can play the updated CD versions with speech and improved music. If memory serves, the CD release of the first game was censored compared to the floppy version. I didn’t have time to do a forensic comparison for this review, but I assume the floppy version included here is the original uncensored one.

I don’t really need to delve into the mechanics of each game as they’re pretty much the same throughout, I’ll just very quickly gloss over the five games. Oh, by the way, the number of i’s in the title is the number of characters you play as in each game… just in case you didn’t know and thought there was something wrong with my keyboard.

Gobliiins

You play as the characters, Oups, Asgard and Ignatius. Each has their own specific skill, and you’ll be constantly swapping between all three to succeed in your mission to save King Angoulafre, who has inexplicably gone insane, thanks to the evil wizzard Niak.

Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon

This time you play as two characters Fingus and Winkle, who are tasked with saving the king’s son, Prince Buffoon. Amoniak is the big bad of the game and the one responsible for the prince’s disappearance.

Goblins Quest 3

You only play as one character this time around, Blount. But you do get help from several sidekicks along the way. Blount is an eccentric fella who finds himself at the heart of a war between kings over the conquest of a mysterious Labyrinth.

Gobliiins 4

Back to playing as three characters with Tchoup, Stucco, and Perluis. This time, you are sent on a quest to recover the King’s missing aardvark, Riri. This one swaps the series’ 2D sprites for 3D polygons.

Gobliiins 5: The Morgloton Invasion

This one sees the return of the original three characters, Oups, Asgard and Ignatius, as well as a return to the 2D sprites, but now in glorious HD. The story this time has our heroes tasked to defeat the mad scientist Morglott, who plans to turn all the subjects of the King into potatoes.

The Gobliiins games are wonderfully silly, a perfect blend of slapstick animation, surreal logic, irrelevant humour, and stories that feel like they were written during a sugar rush. But beneath the nonsense lies carefully crafted puzzle design. Solutions may be absurd, but they’re never arbitrary. The games want you to succeed, not suffer (except the first one, which has a health bar). And when something is interactable purely for comedic effect, the game rewards you with a daft animation rather than a dead end.

I haven’t finished all five games yet. I’ve completed the first three, and I’m diving into 4 and 5 once this review is done, but what I’ve played runs beautifully. These are the original games, warts and all. No HD remasters, no modernised controls, no smoothing filters. You can stretch the image to fit your large, widescreen TV if you want, but that’s about it. Honestly? I’m fine with that. Gobliiins is meant to look like Gobliiins.

For around £20 on PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, this is a fantastic package. Five games, a documentary, a music player, concept art, and more. I’ve seen similar retro collections for more coin with half the content. The only omission is Gobliins 6: The Prince Buffoon – The Madmen of the Year 1000, released earlier this year. It would’ve been nice to have at least a trailer or demo included, but that’s a minor gripe.

The Gobliiins Collection is a lovingly assembled, nostalgia‑rich celebration of one of gaming’s strangest, funniest, and most inventive puzzle series. It preserves the originals faithfully, adds genuinely worthwhile extras, and offers tremendous value. If you’re a fan, it’s a no‑brainer. If you’re new, it’s the perfect place to start. If you ’effing love Gobliiins… well, you already know.

“