Pikuniku

Developer: Sectordub | Publisher: Devolver Digital | Release Date: 2019 | Genre: Adventure / Puzzle Platformer / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

At first glance, Pikuniku looks like the sort of cheerful little platformer that could comfortably sit alongside children’s games. The world consists almost entirely of bold colours and simple geometric shapes, the protagonist is essentially a red oval with two ridiculously long legs, and most of the inhabitants appear to be perfectly happy. It does not take long, however, before the game reveals that something considerably stranger is happening beneath all the bright scenery.

Players take control of Piku, a supposedly terrifying beast who has been sleeping inside a cave. When nearby villagers finally discover him, they quickly realise that the monster from their legends is considerably less intimidating than expected. From there, Piku becomes involved in helping the locals with their problems before gradually uncovering a conspiracy involving the suspiciously cheerful Mr. Sunshine and his scheme to offer everyone free money in exchange for their natural resources. What begins as a silly adventure therefore develops into a lightweight dystopian story about exploitation, consumerism, and eventually starting a small revolution.

The story never takes itself particularly seriously. Characters tend to react to bizarre situations with complete nonchalance, while Piku is regularly asked to solve problems that range from genuinely useful to completely ridiculous. The humour is extremely dry and often comes from unexpectedly blunt dialogue rather than elaborate jokes.

This is easily one of the game’s greatest strengths. Talking to everyone is worthwhile simply to see what strange thing they have to say next. Even minor characters tend to have a little personality, which helps the deliberately minimalist world feel far more alive than its basic appearance would suggest. 

Gameplay is a mixture of light platforming, environmental puzzles, exploration, and small side activities. Piku can jump, kick things with his long legs, curl into a ball, roll around, swing from hooks, travel through pipes, and interact with various objects throughout the world.

Rolling around immediately brought back memories of LocoRoco. The games are obviously very different structurally, but there is something similarly amusing about turning into a round shape and letting momentum carry the character down slopes. Piku’s floppy legs and slightly unpredictable physics only make the movement funnier.

The ball form is useful beyond simply moving faster. Piku can roll down slopes, squeeze through certain spaces, and interact with environmental objects while curled up. The physics never become complicated enough to resemble a proper momentum-based puzzle game, but they add a pleasant looseness to movement.

Kicking is equally important. Piku can boot boxes, balls, switches, and various other objects around the environment, and quite a few puzzles involve getting something into the correct position. There are also moments where kicking is used more directly, such as breaking obstacles or dealing with the rare boss battles..

The puzzles are generally very easy. Most involve pushing something onto a switch, moving an object into position, using Piku’s ball form to reach somewhere, or figuring out a simple sequence of interactions. This lack of difficulty makes Pikuniku extremely accessible, but experienced players may occasionally wish the mechanics were pushed further. There are some clever ideas, yet most appear once or twice before the game moves on. Rarely does a puzzle require much experimentation before the solution becomes obvious.

Platforming is similarly forgiving. Piku’s legs stretch and bounce around in amusing ways, but jumps rarely demand much precision. There are occasional hazards and more structured challenges, but failing generally costs very little progress.

The world is divided into several interconnected areas rather than one huge map. Villages, forests, mines, underground sections, lakes, and industrial facilities each provide different activities while remaining compact enough that travelling between objectives rarely becomes tedious.

Players can also spend coins earned during the adventure on hats. Some are purely cosmetic while others have contextual uses, although the system is intentionally lightweight rather than functioning as traditional equipment progression.

There are optional trophies and side activities to find as well, giving completionists reasons to explore beyond the main path. Some challenges are hidden surprisingly well, while others involve helping characters or completing small diversions.

The campaign itself is extremely short. Most players should reach the ending within roughly four or five hours, with completionists able to see virtually everything without dramatically extending that figure. Fortunately, Pikuniku includes a completely separate local cooperative mode rather than simply allowing a second player to join the campaign. This features a few dedicated stages where one player controls Piku and the other controls the orange Niku.

The co-op levels are built specifically around two characters working together. Players must activate switches simultaneously, move objects into position, help each other reach platforms, and occasionally compete in races and other challenges. The cooperative physics also create plenty of opportunities to kick or knock your partner around, either accidentally or very deliberately.

These stages are arguably more mechanically interesting than much of the single-player campaign because the puzzles can rely on coordination rather than a single obvious interaction. The downside is the limited number of levels. Even allowing for some mistakes and experimentation, the entire cooperative selection can be finished in roughly an hour or two. It is fun enough that the limited quantity actually becomes more disappointing, as the mechanics could easily have supported another collection of stages.

There is also a competitive basketball-style activity called Baskick, which involves using the characters’ legs and physics to knock a ball into the opposing goal. It is deliberately silly rather than something likely to sustain serious competitive play, but it fits the tone nicely.

Visually, Pikuniku could hardly be simpler. Characters are built from basic shapes, environments use large blocks of flat colour, and there is very little texture detail anywhere. Yet the art direction works extremely well precisely because everything is so clean.

Piku’s design is almost absurdly basic—a red body, two eyes, and long legs—but those legs provide an enormous amount of personality through animation. Watching him stumble, roll, kick, or flop around creates far more character than a more detailed model necessarily would.

The supporting cast follows the same philosophy. Birds, worms, villagers, robots, and other creatures are composed from simple forms but remain immediately recognisable. The bright colours also make interactive objects very easy to distinguish from the background.

This visual clarity is particularly useful during platforming and puzzle sections. Players rarely have to wonder whether something can be manipulated because switches, hooks, platforms, and movable objects are all presented clearly.

The minimalism also means the game should run comfortably on virtually any reasonably modern PC. There is little technically demanding about the presentation, but the strong art direction prevents it from feeling cheap.

Animation does much of the heavy lifting. Piku’s floppy legs bend and swing around with exaggerated physics, while characters frequently react through tiny movements rather than elaborate facial expressions. These simple animations contribute heavily to the comedy.

The soundtrack is equally playful. Calum Bowen’s music uses cheerful electronic melodies, quirky percussion, and intentionally odd sounds that match the colourful world beautifully. The full soundtrack contains dozens of tracks, including dedicated pieces for areas, encounters, co-op stages, and small events.

Music changes regularly enough that the short adventure never becomes repetitive. Some tracks are deliberately silly, while others are surprisingly pleasant and melodic. It is the kind of soundtrack that initially sounds like background accompaniment for a cartoon but quickly becomes part of the game’s identity. Sound effects are equally whimsical. Kicks, impacts, machinery, characters, and environmental objects all have exaggerated sounds that reinforce the playful atmosphere without becoming annoying.

Controls are intentionally simple. Moving, jumping, kicking, and curling into a ball cover most interactions, which means practically anyone can understand how to play within minutes. Controller support is available, while keyboard controls work perfectly well for the straightforward movement.

The loose physics occasionally cause Piku to behave slightly differently than expected, especially while rolling or interacting with movable objects. This is rarely frustrating because the game demands very little precision, and the awkwardness frequently makes failures more amusing rather than irritating.

Replay value is relatively limited once the campaign, collectibles, and co-op levels have been completed. The story does not branch significantly, puzzles remain unchanged, and knowing the solutions removes much of the exploration from another run.

Steam achievements provide additional objectives for completionists, with some requiring optional activities and others involving the cooperative stages. There is enough to encourage thoroughly exploring the game once, but little reason for an immediate second campaign.

This is probably Pikuniku’s biggest overall weakness. It continually introduces amusing characters, mechanics, locations, and ideas, but almost everything ends before being developed very deeply. The campaign could have used another couple of substantial areas, while the excellent cooperative mode desperately needed more levels.

At the same time, the brevity prevents the simple gameplay from wearing thin. The easy puzzles and uncomplicated platforming might become repetitive over a ten-hour campaign, whereas the actual game ends while its humour and unusual world are still enjoyable.

Overall, Pikuniku is a wonderfully strange little adventure that makes excellent use of simple mechanics and an even simpler visual style. The platforming and puzzles rarely provide much challenge, while the short campaign and limited number of co-op levels leave plenty of ideas underdeveloped. However, its dry humour, memorable characters, cheerful soundtrack, playful physics, and surprisingly effective dystopian story give it considerably more personality than many games several times its size.