Toki Tori

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"This probably isn't a normal egg!"
—The opening of the first game (while Toki Tori is hatching)

Toki Tori is a puzzle game originally released for the Game Boy Color, then remade for the Pocket PC, then getting an Updated Rerelease (or several), all brought to you by Two Tribes. After ten years, a sequel is in the works.

Toki Tori's premise is straightforward. Using a limited number of tools (ranging from the suitably named Freeze-o-matic to the unimposing Bubble Suit, Toki Tori has to gather up his lost and unhatched brothers and sisters (originally swept away by a tornado). The game starts slow but can be deceptively challenging on the later levels and has developed something of a cult following by the sixth or so re-release (helped in large part by Steam). Two Tribes has even taken to adding a couple new levels now and again to celebrate Toki Tori's expanding fan base on Steam. They also added a whole new world to help promote Portal 2 with a very special final level. A Level Editor was finally released so that fans can put together their own Easter egg hunts.

The sequel, Toki Tori 2, was released in 2013. It is much more ambitious than its predecessor. Tools are also replaced by manipulating the environment (creatures, nature, artifacts, etc.) to help you explore the levels and collect tokens instead of eggs.

Tropes used in Toki Tori include:
  • Aborted Arc: Originally, Toki Tori had explicitly magic powers and the tornado that took his siblings was implied to be controlled by some evil force. This is never mentioned outside of the Game Boy Color game.
  • Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Slime Sewers (or Slime Cave on Gameboy)
  • A Winner Is You: Your reward for beating all the normal levels is an animated cookout.
  • Bag of Spilling: The sequel has Toki Tori losing all of his tools. Instead of earning them again, though, he learns how to whistle and stomp.
  • Canon Discontinuity: The developers have stated that any plot from the first game is being tossed out.
  • Conjoined Eyes: Toki Tori to a ridiculous extent.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: An old stone castle is built with pools of lava but as long as Toki Tori or ghosts don't touch it, he's fine.
  • Double Unlock: In the Steam version, complete 10 stages to get a message saying the bonus levels are unlocked. The bonus levels still have a lock on them, which get unlocked if you join the Steam group.
  • Dungeon Bypass: The Wildcard in the later versions allows you to skip a level you can't beat. However, you have to go back and beat that level if you want to use the Wildcard later.
  • Excuse Plot: The first version shows your sibling eggs getting taken away. The rest only imply it. Nothing ever comes of it.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Let's just say Toki Tori is not collecting those eggs for their salvation.
  • Ground Pound: Not used as an attack but a key source of interacting with the game world in the sequel.
  • Level Editor: Only for the Steam version.
  • One-Hit-Point Wonder: Enemies and spikes both stop Toki Tori in his tracks.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: They're affected by gravity and can die, for starters.
  • Reset Button: The Steam version eventually introduced the Rewind function to make the game less frustrating.
  • Super Not-Drowning Skills: Bubble Barrage takes place completely underwater but plays like any other world. Toki Tori does sport some goggles though.