Save Koch puts players in the shoes of a crime boss locked in a panic room after being informed that an anonymous head of a rival faction is looking to assassinate him in seven days. The titular Koch lives in a sci-fi noir inspired world full of anthropomorphized animals that are both complicated and interesting. The only information that the player is given about their situation is that there is a mole in their organization who is working for Koch's mysterious rival. From there players must make phone calls and send their underlings on missions to determine who the mole and mastermind are with each game randomizing those positions.
The gameplay of Save Koch is simple, but the game does very little to explain it to the player. Koch never leaves his desk, so players must use phone calls and the situation board in order to discover clues and new potential culprits. Any information that is acquired goes up on the board for players to analyze and draw conclusions. Understanding how all of these things work together is mostly trial and error, as even Save Koch's tutorial is little help.
The most interesting facet of Save Koch is the multitude of characters players will interact with. Koch's second in command, Burmy, quickly tells the player to get in contact with their other underlings which include: Clip-Clop the thieving horse, Melinda the alcoholic detective, and even a loyal dog named Scooter who specializes in torturing. There are a large host of other underlings and a list of at least 8 other people who could be the mastermind of the plot to kill Koch. All of these characters have backstories, special skills, and vendettas or friendships with each other.
The issue here is that it is impossible keep track of everyone without taking actual notes about every minute detail. Players could spend dozens of hours with Save Koch and still not be entirely sure how each character relates to the others. Save Koch doesn't feature any kind of glossary or index to help players keep track of everyone. Even more frustrating is that, other than a simple description of their specialty, Save Koch doesn't inform players what jobs their underlings are good at. There is an impressive amount of lore, but it ultimately makes the player feel even more lost in the world.
Players will spend the majority of their time with Save Koch sending their 3 underlings and Burmy out on missions. The missions and events are not random whatsoever and appear at the same time every playthrough. This means that players can memorize which character can succeed on each mission in order to determine the best way to progress. If the wrong underling is sent out though that character can wind up dead for the rest of a playthrough and potentially ruin the chance of winning that run.
Another problem with missions is that some of them take characters almost 4 minutes to complete. Most of the time the player can fill this time going over their clues or making phone calls, but sometimes the player will wind up just watching the clock. Save Koch's gameplay mostly moves very slowly, which can be stressful when Koch is on the cusp of being assassinated.
Visually the game has a comic book style that lends very well to the fantastic world that Save Koch presents. It gives the characters a lot of varied personality, and the different cutscenes are a joy to look at. These visuals are mostly wasted though as players spend the majority of their time staring at the wall or clue board waiting for time to run out. The lack of visual variety is a huge downside for such a charming looking game.
Save Koch could have been a very enjoyable experience, but is ultimately ruined by its confusing lore and repetitive gameplay. Save Koch tried to employ roguelike style features in order to foster multiple playthroughs, but it becomes incredibly tiresome after only a few runs. If Save Koch had only explained its gameplay better and reworked its repetitive elements it would have been an intriguing experience. In its current state Save Koch spends much of its run wearing on the player's patience.
Save Koch releases March 6, 2020 for Nintendo Switch. A Switch digital code was provided for the purposes of this review