Somewhere between putting on a demon mask to bark at villagers and jumping into a toaster to confront a sentient slice of bread, I began to realise that Pikuniku is a bit… different.
Developed by Sectordub and published by Devolver Digital, Pikuniku is probably best described as a side scrolling dystopian puzzle platformer, but even that does the game a huge disservice given the constant, surprising variety of things to see and do.
By the time the credits roll you’ll have overthrown a shady conspiracy, won a dance off with a robot, and playtested a worm’s new video game. Every ounce of this game is designed to make you smile, and it constantly succeeds. Think WarioWare crossed with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and you’re getting kind of close to what Pikuniku is.
You’ll play through this whimsical adventure as a small, red creature with two gangly legs. You can bounce around, kick various objects, and even roll around like a loose Tic-Tac. After waking up in a cave, you’ll eventually arrive at a village populated entirely by bizarre characters who seem convinced you’re some kind of ancient, evil beast (you aren’t, to be clear).
Before long you find yourself embroiled in the plans of some brave resistance fighters who are working against an evil mastermind who wants to destroy the island you live on and replace everyone with robots. As far as video game narratives go, it’s hardly God of War, but it gets us from A to B and paves the way for some entertaining “boss” battles, which I won’t spoil here.
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