Punch Club (Lazy Bear Games)
The hero of Punch Club, an upcoming game by Lazy Bear Games, has a dream. It involves training to become a boxer and also finding out who it was that killed his father. To help him achieve this dream you have to step in and manage his daily life, similar to the tycoon games of the 80s and 90s. From training him to upgrade his skills, to selecting his fighting styles during fights, everything is in your hands.
The concept of Punch Club, formerly known as VHS Story, already piqued our interest, but it is the beautiful pixel art visuals that really drew us in. Thankfully, we were able to try out the E3 demo of the game that revealed just how much effort Lazy Bear Games are putting into Punch Club.
The demo only covers one day in the life of your fighter, but what a day it was. After being woken by a phone call we directed the hero to grab some breakfast and get in a quick workout before heading to a pizza place to apply for a job. After landing the job, making some money delivering pizza and even learning some new moves from the boss, it was off to the shops to buy some more food. There were some healthy and not so healthy items available to purchase, so what you choose for your fighter to eat will definitely impact his stats.
Disaster struck on the way back home when we tried to save some cash by letting the fighter walk instead of catching a bus. We successfully warded off some muggers, but lost all our food in the process and had to eat a moldy burger out of the trash as a last resort. It all ended with a fight against a mutant crocodile in the sewer, after which a talking rat taught our fighter a new move that he can’t actually use because it requires a tail. All in all the demo wasn’t very long, but it showcased just how wacky, in-depth and addictive Punch Club is going to be.
Just take a look at the screenshots and the reveal trailer below to see why Punch Club is very high on our list of most wanted games. tinyBuild is handling the publishing duties on this title and according to them it should release in Fall 2015 on Steam and mobile, so be sure to mark your calendars. Anyone with fond memories of playing management sims and a love for beautiful pixel art will want to keep a close eye on this title.
