Gobliiins (1991)
Gobliiins is a 1991 point-and-click video game made by Coktel Vision and Sierra On-Line.
Gobliiins is a gleefully absurd puzzle-adventure built around the logic that no single goblin is enough. King Angoulafre has been driven mad by a voodoo doll, and the only cure requires tracking down Niak the Wizard with four magic components. You command three goblins, Oups, Ignatius, and Asgard, each with a distinct skill. Oups can interact with objects, Ignatius casts spells, and Asgard climbs and fights. Every screen is a miniature puzzle demanding you combine their abilities in the right order, with a shared energy bar that punishes careless moves.
Quick answers
What is Gobliiins about?
Gobliiins is a gleefully absurd puzzle-adventure built around the logic that no single goblin is enough. King Angoulafre has been driven mad by a voodoo doll, and the only cure requires tracking down Niak the Wizard with four magic components. You command three goblins, Oups, Ignatius, and Asgard, each with a distinct skill. Oups can interact with objects, Ignatius casts spells, and Asgard climbs and fights. Every screen is a miniature puzzle demanding you combine their abilities in the right order, with a shared energy bar that punishes careless moves.
When was Gobliiins released?
Gobliiins was released on 31 December 1991.
Who made Gobliiins?
Gobliiins was made by Coktel Vision and Sierra On-Line.
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Explore Gobliiins guides
Gobliiins in our writing
- Companion guide: Coktel Vision: Gobliiins and the French Puzzle Adventure
A few thoughts on Gobliiins
The team-juggling puzzle structure has more in common with a lateral-thinking board game than a traditional adventure. Fans of goblin-flavored fantasy chaos may enjoy The King's Quest Companion, which dives deep into the lore and design thinking behind Sierra-era adventure worlds.
Point-and-click logic: knowing exactly which skill unlocks the room
Gobliiins works because Oups, Ignatius, and Asgard each solve a different half of every puzzle, and these picks share that same right-tool-right-moment logic. The King's Quest Companion is a guide to the genre Gobliiins grew up alongside, Portal and Portal 2 turn a single tool into the answer for every room, and Dr. Slump's gadget-driven chaos treats clever, silly problem-solving as the whole joke.
A mismatched crew whose powers only work when combined
Gobliiins never lets one goblin succeed alone. Oups, Ignatius, and Asgard have to line up their skills to clear each screen, and these picks build entire stories on the same idea. Asterix's village only wins because everyone's strength is different, Avatar: The Last Airbender needs four elements working together, Miraculous's two heroes share one power split in half, and Hunter x Hunter's cast wins fights by combining different abilities.
Absurdist comedy that never breaks its own straight face
A king cursed mad by a voodoo doll and three goblins arguing their way through his rescue tells you exactly how seriously Gobliiins takes itself, which is to say, not very. Frank Zappa's Apostrophe and Sheik Yerbouti turn absurdity into a whole musical language, Tenacious D treats rock stardom as one long inside joke, and The Simpsons built decades of comedy on taking ridiculous premises completely straight.
A quest to break a curse cast on someone who didn't deserve it
A voodoo curse on King Angoulafre sends Gobliiins hunting for a wizard and four magic pieces, a curse-breaking quest these stories share. The Girl Who Drank the Moon follows a village bound by a curse nobody remembers, Brisingr sends its hero after magic strong enough to undo real damage, Inuyasha's cast hunt a cure for a demon curse, and Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind carries that same fantasy weight.