Reviewed on Xbox Series X

Garfield has never exactly been known for loving Mondays, but Garfield: Escape From Monday takes that classic joke and turns it into an entire platforming adventure.

Instead of simply complaining about the start of the work week, Garfield finds himself trapped inside a bizarre food-coma nightmare where Monday has become an actual enemy.

With colorful environments, ridiculous food monsters, costume-based abilities, and more than 40 levels to work through, this is a game that clearly isn't trying to take itself too seriously.

After playing through the entire campaign, I found a charming and surprisingly entertaining platformer that does a good job of capturing Garfield's personality while giving players enough gameplay variety to keep things moving.

There are some repetitive elements and a few technical issues that prevent it from being perfect, but overall, Garfield: Escape From Monday delivers exactly the kind of lighthearted experience I think fans of the character are looking for.

So, does Garfield successfully escape Monday, or does this nightmare platformer leave us wanting to hit the snooze button?

Let's find out.

A Food-Coma Nightmare

The story begins with a situation that feels completely appropriate for Garfield.

On an ordinary Monday, Jon Arbuckle decides to make a healthy spinach lasagna using a recipe from a television chef named Chef Monday.

And of course, Garfield does what Garfield does best.

He eats the entire thing.

The problem is that Garfield eventually realizes the lasagna is filled with vegetables.

For Garfield, that's basically a nightmare scenario.

The shock of eating something healthy sends him into a deep sleep, where he finds himself trapped inside a strange food-coma dream world.

And this isn't exactly a peaceful dream.

The world is filled with food monsters, rogue vegetables, sugar-free candy, and other strange enemies that seem determined to keep Garfield trapped.

Even worse, an evil version of Chef Monday continues to appear throughout the adventure, turning Garfield's least favorite day of the week into the ultimate nightmare.

Garfield's goal is pretty simple.

He needs to reactivate his taste buds, survive the bizarre worlds around him, and find his way back home.

Along the way, familiar characters including Jon, Odie, Arlene, and Pookie make appearances and help Garfield during his journey.

The story doesn't try to be complicated, and honestly, I think that's the right decision.

This is Garfield.

The game understands that the humor and ridiculous situations are supposed to be the main attraction.

The result is a story that's silly, colorful, and surprisingly fitting for the character.

A Colorful Garfield Nightmare

The presentation is one of the areas where Garfield: Escape From Monday really stands out.

Playing on Xbox Series X, the game delivers a colorful visual style that feels like Garfield has stepped directly into a cartoon nightmare.

The environments are designed around the idea of Monday becoming something much more sinister.

What starts as a relatively normal suburban environment eventually turns into strange dream worlds filled with bizarre obstacles, giant objects, food-themed enemies, and surreal environments.

The visual design does a good job communicating what kind of game this is.

It's colorful.

It's exaggerated.

And it never takes itself too seriously.

The game also uses a stylized visual presentation that gives the world a comic-book feel while still allowing the environments to have plenty of detail.

Some of the level designs are particularly creative.

Instead of simply creating generic platforming environments, the developers lean into the idea of Monday being Garfield's personal nightmare.

That means you'll encounter things like giant alarm clocks, strange food-related obstacles, corporate environments, and other ridiculous hazards.

It's basically everything Garfield hates turned into a video game level.

The game also does a nice job with its audio presentation.

Sound effects help give the environments personality, while Garfield's movements have a satisfying comedic quality to them.

Hearing his heavy footsteps and exaggerated reactions fits the character perfectly.

The hazards also have their own unique sounds, which makes them easier to recognize while you're moving through the levels.

And of course, whenever Garfield discovers one of his favorite foods, the audio makes it feel like he's just discovered the greatest treasure in the world.

Overall, the presentation fits the Garfield universe extremely well.

It's bright, goofy, colorful, and full of personality.

Simple Platforming With a Costume Twist

The gameplay is where Garfield: Escape From Monday keeps things accessible.

At its core, this is a straightforward platformer.

Garfield can run, jump, climb, and navigate his way through different environments while avoiding enemies and hazards.

The controls are easy to understand, which makes the game approachable even if you're not someone who spends a lot of time playing platformers.

The biggest gameplay feature is the costume system.

Different costumes give Garfield different abilities that change how you approach certain sections of the game.

The Turkey Suit, for example, gives Garfield additional airtime and allows him to stay in the air longer.

The Surfer Suit gives him abilities that allow him to move across water and handle sections that would otherwise be inaccessible.

Then there's the Cowboy Suit, which gives Garfield a lasso that can be used to swing across gaps and interact with different objects.

I really enjoyed how the costumes were incorporated into the level design.

Instead of simply being cosmetic outfits, they actually change how Garfield moves through the world.

That gives the game some variety and prevents the platforming from becoming completely repetitive.

Exploration Gives You a Reason to Look Around

Another nice addition is the game's collection and customization system.

Throughout the levels, you'll find lasagna slices and other collectibles.

These aren't simply there to increase your score.

Collecting enough items allows you to unlock customization options and refurbish different areas of Jon's house.

That gives you an additional reason to explore the levels instead of simply running straight toward the exit.

And considering how straightforward the core platforming is, I appreciate anything that gives players another reason to replay or thoroughly explore an area.

The campaign is spread across three different worlds and more than 40 levels, giving you plenty of content to work through.

The game also brings in familiar Garfield characters and enemies, which helps make the adventure feel connected to the larger Garfield universe.

At its best, Garfield: Escape From Monday is simply about running through colorful levels, collecting items, experimenting with different costumes, and enjoying the ridiculous situations Garfield finds himself in.

And sometimes that's all you really need from a game.

Where Garfield: Escape From Monday Falls Short

Unfortunately, the game does have a few problems.

The biggest issue I noticed during my playthrough was repetitive dialogue.

Because the campaign contains more than 40 levels, you'll hear some of the same lines multiple times.

At first, the repeated dialogue is funny.

After hearing the same lines several times, though, it starts to become noticeable.

It's not a major problem, but it does take away from some of the variety as you get deeper into the campaign.

I also experienced some occasional frame-rate drops during certain levels.

For the majority of my playthrough, performance was smooth, so these moments stood out more when they happened.

Thankfully, the performance problems weren't frequent enough to completely disrupt the experience.

The platforming itself can also feel fairly simple at times.

That's not necessarily a negative depending on what you're looking for.

If you're expecting a hardcore platforming challenge, this probably isn't going to provide that.

But if you're looking for something more relaxed and approachable, the simplicity works in the game's favor.

The biggest missed opportunity is that I would have liked to see even more variety from the costume system.

The costumes that are here are fun, but expanding the number of abilities could have created even more interesting platforming challenges.

Final Verdict

After playing through Garfield: Escape From Monday from start to finish, I came away pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had with it.

This is not a game trying to reinvent the platforming genre.

Instead, it takes a simple formula and wraps it around one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in gaming.

The colorful presentation, ridiculous story, costume-based abilities, collectibles, and familiar Garfield characters all work together to create a lighthearted adventure.

The costume system is easily one of the strongest gameplay features because it gives Garfield different abilities and keeps the platforming from becoming completely repetitive.

The game also does a great job of capturing the humor and personality of Garfield.

There are some problems.

The repetitive dialogue becomes noticeable during the longer campaign, and the occasional frame-rate drops prevent the technical presentation from being completely polished.

The platforming itself is also fairly straightforward, so players looking for a serious challenge may find the experience a little too easy.

But for what Garfield: Escape From Monday is trying to accomplish, I think it works.

It's colorful.

It's goofy.

It's approachable.

And most importantly, it understands that Garfield doesn't need to take himself seriously.

If you're a Garfield fan, looking for something you can play with younger players, or simply want a relaxing platformer that doesn't demand too much from you, Garfield: Escape From Monday is worth checking out.

After beating the game from start to finish...

The Gamer Section gives Garfield: Escape From Monday a 4 out of 5.

The Gamer Section Score: 4/5

Pros

• Fun Garfield-themed premise

• Colorful and charming presentation

• More than 40 levels

• Three distinct worlds

• Costume abilities add gameplay variety

• Fun collectibles and customization

• Accessible platforming

• Plenty of Garfield personality

Cons

• Dialogue becomes repetitive

• Occasional frame-rate drops

• Platforming can be fairly simple

• More costume variety would have been welcome