Pikuniku

I have not played Pikuniku, but I have watched my kid play it.

Folks, this game has been a godsend and I am so thankful for it. On a whim one night we went through the meager selection of kid-friendly games on X-Box Game Pass and landed on this one. This game was just the right balance of platforming and puzzles for a person new to gaming who is unfamiliar with conventions. My kid was still struggling with basic gaming concepts after playing New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart, but thanks to this game they have learned how to do a lot of important things (remember button mapping, press two buttons at once, perform actions while moving, timed jumps, I could go on).

It’s a silly puzzle adventure game. The combination of the physics and art style creates some legitimately funny moments, and we laughed quite a bit at certain parts (there’s this one part where you have to help a fat worm get through a maze of tunnels by kicking it). In fact, there is a lot of kicking, and all of it is fun, and I appreciate that if you kick characters enough they will eventually KICK BACK, which is not only funny to watch but is a great lesson in cause and effect for a 5-year-old. They were able to do all of it except the last boss and a bonus dungeon area that was honestly a bit of an ass-whip.

I still don’t know why the hell this game is called Pikuniku and I resent having to check the spelling every time I want to look something up, and some of the trophies are cheap as hell, but otherwise this game was a great experience and I salute everyone involved in it. You better believe I snagged a copy for $1 on Switch just in case Game Pass fell into the abyss or something equally horrible.

It has a true co-op mode which we hated because IT REALLY IS COOP and you actually have to work together, which was hell for both of us, but they played through the main game in about three weeks, spending 10 to 30 minutes on it each night during the magical child gaming time, and they are now keenly interested in games in which they can talk to characters, so a seed has been planted that may one day bloom into a love of narrative puzzle games. I can only assume that on my deathbed they will take my hand and whisper, “You did good, Renny. You did good.” And I will smile sagely, perhaps a bit mysteriously, as I move on to play the big Game Pass in the sky.

Pikuniku Forever

I ended up buying a copy of this on Switch (I think it regularly goes on sale for some absurdly low price like $3) and I’m glad I did. In the intervening years my kid has revisited this game at least three times. Sometimes they flub the dance battle and ragequit, and sometimes they just run around kicking people until they get bored, but they have consistently returned to it. If you have kids, this one is definitely worth checking out.