• Platform: Hybrid Windows/Mac
• Release Date: 1997
• Similar Games: Freddi Fish and Luther's Water Worries (Hybrid Windows/Mac), Freddie Fish 3: Luthers Maze Madness (Hybrid Windows/Mac), Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama (Hybrid Windows/Mac), Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog On A Stick (Hybrid Windows/Mac)

Game Description

Pajama Sam's Sock Works is part of Humongous Entertainment's Junior Arcade series, which features characters from the company's Junior Adventures series in various arcade-style games.

In this one, Pajama Sam needs the player's help to move his socks through the Sock-o-Matic Mark III sock sorting machine. Similar in play to the luggage sorting game from Let's Explore the Airport with Buzzy, Sock Works features a series of conveyor belts and various contraptions which send the socks on their way to the proper bins once the correct settings have been made.

There are over 250 levels, and there is a level builder which lets kids design their own puzzles. Saving games in progress for up to 75 different players is also possible. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

This game features Pajama Sam, a character first introduced in Humongous Entertainment's Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Almost every level is either way too easy or way too hard. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

While the character Pajama Sam is an endearing one, this is a game which unfortunately doesn't hold up as a stand-alone product. Considering that a variation of it is available as part of Let's Explore the Airport with Buzzy, one has to wonder why this wasn't simply part of the next Pajama Sam adventure.

The basic idea is a good one: the player must take control of the Sock-o-Matic Mark III and help Pajama Sam sort his socks. Each level contains between one and four different colored socks, each of which must be sent to the bin of the same color. There are various types of conveyor belts which send the socks along their way, and some of them can have their direction changed with a click of the mouse. There are also pushers which can be set to go off and bounce a sock down a path, chutes which whisk the socks to another chute with the same symbol on them, director arms to send the sock down one path or another, and paint buckets which change the color of the socks.

While this sounds like a challenging Tetris-like concept for kids, the problem lies in the game levels. They're either very easy or very hard, with little ground in between. In many of the levels, it's a matter of changing one conveyor belt (or not touching anything sometimes) so that the sock goes where it should. In some of the other levels, though, it's incredibly hard to figure out what to click to send the socks to the right place when there are four of them heading right toward various chutes which will send them to other chutes which in turn send them onto belts with a multitude of director arms and pushers. If one sock goes in the wrong basket or falls on the floor, the level must be replayed. Watch out for level 13 -- it's a doozy.

The levels should have been set up the way they are in most puzzle games: with the easiest ones first and progressing to the harder ones. The early ones should get the player familiar with each of the game devices one by one before throwing several of them into a level at once. The levels should also progress from one or two socks to three or four, not vary the number of socks seemingly at random. This is basic development, but it seems to have been neglected here.

The custom level generator is fun, but most kids would rather try preset ones than have to make their own levels in order to match their skill level. At the very least this game should have had multiple levels of difficulty so that little kids could play simple levels while bigger kids could get more of a challenge without being bored or frustrated.

Overall, I'd say pass on this one and pick up Let's Explore the Airport With Buzzy, where you can find a variation on this game (with luggage instead of socks) as well as plenty of other content for about the same price. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Nicely done, as usual. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

This game has some fun sounds; I'll give it credit for that much. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

I can see the frustration setting in around level 13. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The online manual is adequate, but, since this is aimed at kids, there should be an online tutorial first which shows how the game is played. ~ Brad Cook, All Game Guide