SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato is the latest release from small indie studio, StudioBando who are based out of Bogota (Columbia) and San Francisco. Full of regional pride, the game is a heartfelt adventure across a fictional South America to jungles, towns and more secretive locations as protagonist Miho searches for his stolen potato.

Before launch the game had been nominated for numerous awards across major outlets such as IGN and gamescom LATAM Big Festival. Releasing on PlayStation, Steam and Xbox as well as into Xbox Game Pass on launch day there will undoubtedly be a broader audience for this indie with such little price to admission.

So, with all the pre-release accolades, did SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato deliver and is it worth your time? This is a spoiler-lite review of SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato.

Story – A Sopa to Remember

SOPA’s heartwarming story centres around Miho’s adventure to regain his grandmas’s potatoes from some rogue fantastical frogs. Indeed, it is easy to dismiss the synopsis as a child-like tale, yet so much of the narrative and storytelling in StudioBando’s title left me wanting to turn every corner to the sweet, if slightly an abrupt, end.

As with all the greatest adventure games, those we meet leave the greatest memories. Miho is such a charming young boy and the inspiration from Disney’s Coco is easy for all to see. If you have young children who you play games with, SOPA is a game that touches on important themes such as family values, respecting elders and doing your bit for others.

Though, like the greatest kids movies, much of the dialogue is just as entertaining to adults. The attitude, charisma and general sassy back chat of The Pier’s frogs had me – a mid-30s gamer dad – chuckling away. Characters like the ever so grumpy Cranky Frog made me smile time after time. The most miserable kind of character who in the real world you would just want to kill with kindness. Fortunately, Miho is the most pleasant of kids and brings light to all of the people (and frogs!) we meet along the 5-hour adventure.

The tale of the stolen potato itself begins right from the opening moments of the game. Whilst going to fetch a simple spud from Nana’s larder, we’re dragged through a Narnia-like kitchen cupboard into a world of Latin American wonder that I didn’t want to leave in a hurry. Whilst so much was great, SOPA’s story did end all rather suddenly, without really explaining itself. If I was to replay the latter part of the game again I expect the ending would be rather conclusive, yet to a younger gamer – who is part of the audience demographic – I think it’ll remain a slightly lost tale.

Gameplay – Simple Charms

At its core, SOPA is a simplistic adventure game that blends the best of Monkey Island with 3D worlds that wouldn’t feel out of place in a classic Rare game. Collating objects through conversations and actions with the weird and wonderful characters of Miho’s world and piecing them together to make for satisfying narrative progression.

Though simplistic in gameplay, some of the puzzles are stimulating to solve and do require the player to pay attention to the game’s – often humorous and fun – conversations to take the next step. Some of the objectives do feel slightly fetch-questy, particularly at a mid-game stage inside a giant fish. Though the game does a great job at bringing you back to the core mission of retrieving Nana’s stolen potato.

There is more than walking around chatting to the game’s NPCs in SOPA, with several QTE action sequences and the ability to attempt an occasional side quest to earn clay trophies that line Nana’s cabinet.

Visuals – A Rainforest of Colour

Technically, the game looks like (and is) an Xbox One game. But that’s not important. The art-style of SOPA is splendidly colourful, with a palette that wouldn’t look out of place in the latest Pixar movie. Miho looks like the most happy of young chaps, with other human NPCs all visually matched to their in-game persona. One example is the hard-faced Captain, seriously not a woman you’d want to be at sea with! Other creatures and critters in the game have that slightly humanised look you’d find in a creation from Disney or DreamWorks.

But where StudioBando’s adventure shines is in the game’s wonderful backgrounds. Nana’s kitchen pops glorious lighting and looks stunning with HDR. One of the game’s largest and most frequently visited areas, The Pier is loaded with bright colours that are wide-ranging but easy on the eye, all whilst the wacky frogs go about their cheeky business.

Audio – South American Beats

One of my favourite elements of SOPA was its soundtrack which nailed the vibe of being in South America. With an underground, yet cheery tone to the game’s music, the audio adds to SOPA being a game for all ages.

I’m passionate about quality audio effects in games and often find indie titles overlook effects in favour of set lists. SOPA delivers a range of quirky jungle-like sounds, wave crashing and many more jingles that made the adventure feel more complete. Meanwhile, Miho, Nana and the numerous frogs talking like Banjo Kazooie characters took me back to the golden-era of 3D adventures.

Performance – The Odd Bug in the Jungle

This review was played across Xbox Series X and Xbox One X. The game played wonderfully on Series X, holding an almost flawless 60fps throughout. On One X, there was occasional slowdown in busy areas, though that isn’t unusual for cross-gen games that are supportive of Xbox’s Smart Delivery programme.

I did encounter the odd bug in the pre-launch build of the game including a circumstance when an important NPC was invisible. Though less forgiving was mid-game when using a fire hydrant to propel myself around, unfortunately I blew myself out of the game’s play space and had to restart the game from the very start – please be careful when using this item yourself. It is TBC if a day one patch will solve these issues.

Conclusion

Miho’s 5-hour adventure is one that’ll be sticking with me for a while and it is one that I plan to come back to with my young children when they’re ready to play video games. Like the best kids movies, there are important moral and social messages within that I believe this game can be a conduit to communicate.

Though entirely suitable to a younger audience, SOPA is a game that I comfortably enjoyed as a mature gamer. Simplistic, entertaining and humorous, the quest to find the stolen spud is the perfect duration and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

I’d have hoped for a more well-rounded ending but I can still comfortably say, I recommend SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato.

SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato is available for PlayStation, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Windows and Steam on October 7 2025.

This review was played across Xbox Series X and Xbox One X. Thank you to the publisher for proving a code for the purpose of review.

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For more on SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato, please see our guides below that will help you unlock many of the game’s achievements.

SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato Guides

• SOPA – Tales of the Stolen Potato, Feline Reflexes achievement guide
• SOPA – Tales of the Stolen Potato, Hombre al Agua achievement guide
• SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato – Chicken Bully achievement guide
• SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato – How to Stop the Fire Being Put Out
• SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato – Good Listener achievement guide

And for more on SOPA – Tale of the Stolen Potato and other guides, stick with Gamer Social Club.