Developer: Studio Gauntlet
Publisher: Studio Gauntlet, Crunching Koalas
Platform: Switch, PC, Xbox One, PS4
Tested on: PC
Bonkies – Review
There has been a noticeable increase in movies and games revolving around space. Not so weird, considering the climate change issues and people like Elon Musk working their hardest to find alternatives for the future. Travelling to Mars is within our grasp for the first time, and especially sci-fi nerds get giddy whenever they think about the possibilities of space travel. Bonkies is, in a way, also a game about space. It’s not very heavy on the subject matter though. Instead, it’s more about having fun building (fragile) structures.
Story
Bonkies has a little bit of a story, though not too much. Essentially you are space-exploring monkies who need to learn how to build structures. The game is divided into different planets you can visit in a linear fashion, and each planet has its own story. You start at a training planet, quickly followed by Pluto where you crash, and so on. The story is easily graspable, though it’s not enough to give it an important role in the game. It’s just there to weave the levels together like you often see in mobile games.
Graphics
This is a game that radiates two things: accessibility and positivity. Both are also found in the graphics. The game is well designed with few instructions needed, and you play into a confined area that feels like it fits the gameplay. After all, to play with blocks you don’t need too much space. If anything, you want to keep things organized. All this accessibility is also coming back in bright and beautiful colors. That Bonkies is a positive game is also noticeable thanks to the character design. The hard-working monkeys you can pick to play as never stop smiling and are having the time of their lives it seems.
Sound
The music in Bonkies is very chilled out. It’s just some friendly background noise in a way, enforcing the happy mood this game tries to sell to you, just like the graphics. The sound effects do the same, with a bunch of positive or affirmative sounds, not really giving any bad vibes. Bonkies looks and sounds like it was made with proper attention, having a singular goal in mind: to make a positive game.
Gameplay
In Bonkies you play as a monkey of your choice, designated to build a structure on an indicated spot with the blocks that are made available to you. It’s a bit of a combination between Tetris blocks and fighting against gravity to build a tower of blocks like a three-year-old kid. This makes Bonkies a casual puzzling game that’s accessible to multiple people at the same time. We tried Steam’s Remote Play Together function to play it with two at the same time, and also explored the single-player mode. Bonkies advises you to use a controller, though a keyboard works fine (but not as smooth) as well.
Whether you play in single-player or multiplayer mode, Bonkies plays the same. There’s a blue shape on your screen, and you get blocks that allow you to fill up that blue shape. Moving blocks is done with three essential (sets of) buttons. One set or stick you use to move your character, the other for a giant exoskeleton arm, and a simple button to grab or release an object with that arm. Together, they give you the power to drag blocks and other objects that allow you to finish your objective. Through the game, Bonkies hands you several experimental objects such as rocket boosters that can push items or anti-gravity blocks that can support a certain weight to build something in the air.
We found playing Bonkies accessible and in a way, relaxing as well. However, when you’ve almost completed a building and everything comes tumbling down, you might as well start the level over again as levels are designed to give you a certain amount of time to complete something. Bonkies is not about speed though, despite a timer being present. For us, it was more about just trying to accomplish something with somewhat gimmicky mechanics, enjoying the success of building a tower of space blocks standing tall. We also found that Bonkies is best enjoyed in short bits of fun and doesn’t offer too much replayability, because, even though new gameplay is introduced every now and then, it still feels like you are dragging a lot of heavy blocks around all the time.
Conclusion
Bonkies can be a lot of fun for short bursts of gameplay. Preferably played with a friend or two, the game has a cool, relaxing style where you can enjoy the positive vibes it emanates while trying to defy gravity with building blocks. It’s a rewarding game because it feels like you’re achieving something in a way. Sadly, the gameplay also repeats itself rather fast, as the additions made during your playthrough are not enough to change the simple core gameplay.
Bonkies - Review,
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