Pilo and the Holobook Review: 2 Many Stickers!

There are some games that people play because they want to put in a lot of effort. And there are games that you play to chill out. Of course, it’s more rewarding to play something one genuinely enjoys versus playing something just for pushing a few numbers on one’s profile. Unique mechanics add a twist of refreshing sweetness to the gameplay when one’s trying out something new, and that is exactly what gets players hooked into trying something out of the ordinary – something that they normally won’t have tried. Similar circumstances brought me to try out a new casual adventure game called Pilo and the Holobook. It proved to be the refresher I needed from the otherwise gloom and doom of my everyday boring routine.

Pilo and the Holobook is a casual adventure game made by Mudita Games and published by RedDeer Games. It was launched on April 10, 2025, on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and the Switch.

Pilo and the Holobook is a casual adventure game that takes collectibles to the next level. Pilo is a fox who’s an apprentice of Professor Chiron, a renowned inventor and scientist who’s fond of adventures. Pilo gets a magical tome to complete as part of his laboratory activities, called the Holobook. The game’s all about travelling to mythical and exotic locations and collecting more and more stickers by scanning the environment all around the player. This is a very fun game for moms and dads to get their kids into gaming – it’s something which isn’t too addictive, yet entertains and teaches the essence of creative media to the young minds who want to get into the hobby. This game is even a good addition for adults who want to take a break from their everyday monotonous League of Legends or Valorant grind and play something different for a change.

Since Pilo and the Holobook is mainly aimed towards kids, its pretty barebones games set out to achieve one single goal – introduce kids to the noble art of gaming. Because of this, there is no multiplayer – the game’s made to be experienced only in single player. In fact, the game’s UI is also pretty minimal, which stays in line with their design strategy. There’s no way to view control mappings, change visuals from the menu. A few audio bars do help adjust the sound, but that’s about everything players can do when they hit the Escape button on their keyboard.

Pilo and the Holobook lay full focus on exploring environments and on observing minor details in the environments of the game. Players need to step into the boots of Pilo and keep scanning the environment to turn things into stickers for the Holobook. Once a certain number of stickers are collected, a section of the world is completed, and the player can move on to interactions with NPCs and other in-game objects to progress to other parts of the world (or the universe, as Professor Chiron would say!) Each world in the universe has its own environments to explore and its own story to tell.

The game lays keen focus on observation details. Some stickers contain hints that allow the player to understand where certain scannable objects can be. Sometimes, giving a small nod to a bush would release some butterflies or bees nesting there, allowing them to escape. Stuff like this is what makes Pilo and the Holobook an interesting game for kids to pick up and master before they move on to something more addictive, like Fortnite or Minecraft (I mean, at least Minecraft has a small learning curve to it, which helps improve the creative parts of the brain). Sometimes, Pilo would interact with other NPCs of the world, which unlock certain world stickers and allow one to move on to other parts of the world (or to other parts of the same world).

Some parts of the environment contain small puzzles and will need some mind-guzzling to unlock. These small puzzles can unlock certain sub-environments, or drop some lore about the world Pilo is currently is on. These puzzles are designed to be related to the environment and more like brain teasers than full-on puzzles. In other words, they are made in such a way that it feels like they aren’t too difficult to solve, yet help unlock those inactive brain cells that are embedded deep inside the head.

PIlo and the Holobook has an isometric graphics palette, yet it is understood that the environments were designed with minimalism in mind. The young players of the game should be able to boot up the game and head into an adventure without much ado. The environment design is pretty good for an isometric 2.5D, and the animations look pretty fluid. The game looks like something straight out of the Looney Tunes universe, designed to provide a fluid yet interactive experience.

Pilo and the Holobook doesn’t have a very well-made music palette, but considering the developer’s focus on minimalism, this made perfect sense. Environmental sounds are quite loud, allowing the player to fully immerse in while they’re playing.

Players on PC might face some small difficulties while playing with a mouse and keyboard, as navigating certain environments becomes difficult. Other than that, the game did not have any noticeable bugs or other issues during my playtime.

Pilo and the Holobook is a fun game made primarily for children. However, the game has a decent amount of content for adults who wish to invest themselves in it to get a break from their monotonous work routine. The game stays minimalistic and fresh, yet might not fit the taste of every player who wants to get into it.

(Pro tip: Young dads and moms who want to introduce their sons or daughters to gaming, definitely check this one out!)

FINAL SCORE: 75/100