Developers: Chocolate Homunculus, Tilt Studios
Publisher: Black Shell Media
Platform: PC
Tested On: PC
Spunk and Moxie – Review
Developers Chocolate Homunculus and Tilt Studios had the right idea when they brought us Spunk and Moxie, a seriously addictive game that seems simple enough to learn, but proves a bit more difficult than expected to master. This bright and colourful one button platformer has been likened to Super Meat Boy and Flappy Bird, and it’s easy to see why the more you play. It started as a mobile game and has now been ported to PC. We take a whirl at this cute and colourful puzzle platformer.
Story
The story of Spunk and Moxie is pretty short and straight forward – these two adorable piles of goo are actually a mutated secret formula, abandoned by an evil scientist. Now the goo has come to life and needs help escaping from the abandoned warehouse they were left in. It’s your job to guide these two to freedom through a maze of traps. That’s as much as the story will tell us, a short and sweet description into what the goal these adorable goo piles are trying to achieve. It really didn’t need to tell us anymore from there.
Graphics
Since the game started as a mobile game release, some would have expected the porting of the graphics to PC to have a few hiccups. But instead, the graphics are nicely polished and flow smoothly without skipping a beat. Spunk and Moxie is a bright and colourful 2D affair, with a cartoon like artstyle that will have you thinking of old arcade games as you play. The backgrounds of each stage are rather detailed but do not distract from the characters’ design and smooth movements.
Sound
The menu greets you with a cheerful, upbeat tune. As you head into the level select, the music changes into a piano filled, laid back track. The music that accompanies you through the levels is upbeat and encouraging, and feels quite fitting. The smaller sounds of this game go into detail, from the slapping noise as the characters bounce off of walls, to crates smashing and trapdoors closing, to the cheers of the characters as they jump and bounce their way through each level, and each sound fits fine against the background music.
Gameplay
Spunk and Moxie stays true to it’s 2D puzzle platformer format. It definitely gives your brain a bit of a work over as you try to think your way through each frustrating stage. But as it is with most other platformers, it will have you addicted for hours.
You start the game by selecting which character you would like to play as – Spunk (the green goo) or Moxie (the pink goo).
Spunk and Moxie has an incredibly easy to learn control scheme which consists of one button to control the characters jumping, gliding and climbing. It’s not hard to tell that this game started as a mobile game, with the control schemes just ported to left-clicking rather than tapping. Timing is a very important part of the gameplay, as you will need to rely on timing and patience to get through some of the agitating puzzles.
Each level is a maze of one way trap doors, gaps and wall jumping. As you progress through the game the gaps become larger and obstacles such as spikes, buzz saws and electricity waves become dangers you have to avoid.
At the top of the screen is time limit bar that also doubles as your damage bar – meaning each amount of damage a spike or saw takes away removes a fraction of time from your clock. Falling down any gaps send you straight back to start with the timer still running. If your timer bar runs out, you have to restart the entire level again. These set backs can become infuriating rather quickly, especially if you are aiming for 0 damage or a good completion time. Finishing the levels within a certain time frame can get you a gold, silver or bronze time badge.
Spunk and Moxie is rather short – the game consists of 3 worlds with 10 levels each – a total of 30 levels that only last around 1-2 minutes each. However the game does offer replay value, both through its enjoyable gameplay and it’s badge system. In order to 100% each level and the game there are objectives or “badges” you have to obtain for each stage. Finishing the levels within a certain time frame can get you a gold, silver or bronze time badge. Another of these objectives is a target of gems to collect for each level. These gems are important as they also double as your in game currency, which allow you to stock up on power-ups that you unlock as you progress through the game. These power-ups include health potions, and a potion that lets you demolish boxes, spikes and saws. These potions can prove rather handy for the tricky, danger filled levels.
Another objective is to collect keys. Each level has one key, and collecting these keys will unlock characters from other popular indie games ammpwo,g you to play through the game as Spelunky and Super Meat Boy.
Spunk and Moxie also features online and local leaderboards, and an option to race a “ghost” of other players and compete for best times.
Conclusion
On one hand, Spunk and Moxie feels fun and addictive as you are driven to solve the puzzles of the levels you have been stuck on. On the other, this game can be really frustrating very quickly. It’s a fun little experience nonetheless, and for a reasonably small price tag you’re not losing out on all that much if you give it a try. It should be noted again that this was a mobile game ported to PC, and it was a really well done port. However, it is still a mobile game, and is better suited for short bursts rather than longer sessions. There’s a proiper replay value if you’re a perfectionist.
Spunk and Moxie - Review,
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