Tom's Verdict
💜 Bearly Awesome Chapter 1 was one of those games where I went in expecting a relatively straightforward little platformer and came away having enjoyed myself considerably more than I expected.
Bearlie is immediately likeable, the world is bright and colourful, and the game has a nice sense of humour running through it. There's something inherently entertaining about controlling a little bear whose belly is an important part of his skill set, and the belly-bumping mechanic gives Bearlie a bit of personality beyond simply running and jumping through each level.
🪙 I also enjoyed having reasons to explore. Coins encourage you to poke around rather than simply rushing towards the end, while the different creatures, humans and environmental hazards gradually give you more to think about as you progress. By the time mushrooms started firing spores at me, Bearlie's seemingly innocent adventure had become rather more hazardous than it first appeared.
I played all six levels of Chapter 1 and deliberately spent some of that time looking for problems because I was playing a pre-release build and wanted to provide useful feedback to the developer. I did find some bugs along the way, but that's important context: I was actively trying to find them in a version that wasn't yet finished, rather than encountering a game-breaking mess during normal play.
🐻 More importantly, those issues didn't stop me enjoying the game.
There's a good foundation here. The levels introduce enough new ideas to keep the chapter moving, Bearlie is fun to control and the eventual encounter with Jelly gives the first chapter a proper ending rather than simply stopping when you've completed another ordinary level.
Chapter 1 isn't enormous, but I don't think it needs to be. It introduces Bearlie, establishes the style of the game and gives us a taste of the mechanics without stretching the available content unnecessarily. I finished it wanting to see what happens next, which is exactly what a first chapter should achieve.
There are obviously still things that can be polished, particularly given the version I played, but that's what pre-release testing is for. The important thing for me is that underneath those fixable issues is a charming little platformer that I genuinely enjoyed playing.
And yes, apparently belly-bumping things as a small bear is considerably more entertaining than it has any right to be.
💜 For me, Bearly Awesome Chapter 1 earns a Tom Recommends for the pre-release version I played.
Game Screenshots
Watch My Gameplay
Prefer to see Bearly Awesome: Chapter 1 in action? Watch my gameplay video to see how the game plays before reading my full verdict.
Why I Liked This Game
- ✅ 🐻 Bearlie is immediately likeable — The little bear has plenty of personality, and using his belly as part of the gameplay gives him something distinctive beyond the usual platforming abilities.
- ✅ 🎨 Bright and colourful presentation — The cheerful environments suit the character wonderfully and give Bearly Awesome a friendly, playful feel.
- ✅ 🪙 Exploration is rewarded — Coins and things to discover encourage you to look around each level rather than simply making a straight run for the exit.
- ✅ 🍄 Good variety across the chapter — New creatures, hazards and mechanics are introduced as you progress, helping the six levels feel varied despite the relatively short overall length.
- ✅ 👾 A proper conclusion — The Jelly encounter gives Chapter 1 a genuine finale and left me interested in seeing where Bearlie's adventure goes next.
What I Didn't Like In This Game
- ❌ 🐛 Some pre-release bugs — I encountered a few issues while playing, although I was deliberately looking for bugs to report to the developer and was playing an unfinished pre-release build.
- ❌ 🐻 It's over rather quickly — Six levels make Chapter 1 a relatively short experience, although I'd much rather finish a short chapter wanting more than have the same ideas unnecessarily stretched out.
