Puzzle Platformers can either be done quite well (in the case of the Oddworld series or Thomas was Alone) or can be lackluster and annoying, lacking the imagination that makes the genre so versatile and interesting. Spunk and Moxie isn’t the best Puzzle Platformer I’ve ever played, but Chocolate Homunculus and Tilt Studios have turned a mobile game into a decent PC experience that can be played with only a single button.
Spunk and Moxie is a simple game. You can either play as Moxie (a pink glob of “spunk” ) or the green male counterpart Spunk in puzzle platforming gameplay that is mixed with that of an endless runner. Moxie and Spunk cannot be controlled in side-to-side movement. Instead, the player can control only the jumping and sliding functions. Moxie and Spunk can jump either in short hops or in long jumps, depending on how long the button is held down. However, wall jumping is important in order to traverse the many levels of Spunk and Moxie, as well as learning to properly time your jumps in order to collect all the crystals in the levels.
In addition to collecting all the crystals in a level, players can get recognition for collecting keys (which unlock characters such as Meat Boy and the Spelunky guy). These seem to be cosmetic only, and don’t really change how the game is played. Other things you are encouraged to do are not take damage from traps in a level, beating the level in a certain time frame, and getting as high of a score as you can manage.
/L/Making combos by collecting crystals in quick succession is a great way to get your score up, crystals serve a second purpose. Crystals can be used in order to buy potions, which do things such as allowing Spunk to break fragile boxes for a short time, or refilling the spunk gauge completely. The spunk gauge is used to measure Spunk’s (or Moxie’s) life, and slowly ticks down the longer the player takes to complete a level.
With so much to do, and obstacles to traverse (such as spike pits, spike walls, one-way entrances and a variety of other level elements) fans of endless runner games, old school arcade titles, and games with collectibles are sure to love Spunk and Moxie. For a mobile game, I was surprisingly charmed by the cute visuals and the quirky concept of playing as a moving ball of goo.
One issue that I have with Spunk and Moxie is that the controls are not always responsive, on top of that using a gamepad works well in the game itself, but adjusting the options menu quickly becomes frustrating as the controller support isn’t entirely optimized for menu navigation. The only other issue I have with Spunk and Moxie is a minor one, in that the music quickly becomes repetitive and the volume sliders aren’t versatile enough to adjust with any amount of precision, only being reduced to pre-set volume options. Instead of having a full soundtrack, you are “treated” to the same tracks repeated regularly, which can be annoying after a while.
I personally lost interest in Spunk and Moxie after a while, as once you get used to the gameplay and the way things work, the only things that really change are unlocking new character skins, potions, and seeing different sorts of scenery and obstacles. The gameplay doesn’t change, leaving you with the same repetitive jumping, sliding, flying (with the rocket potion) and collecting crystals.
With that being said, the single button control scheme is simple and easy to use, leaving most of the game’s difficulty (depending on which of the three difficulty levels you use) in the hands of the player and their timing and precision skills. For $3.99, Spunk and Moxie isn’t the worst option for fans of endless runners and puzzle-platformers, but the new wears off quickly and after a while it just stops being interesting. I would suggest getting it on sale, or playing it on a mobile device that is likely more optimized for a game like Spunk and Moxie.
A PC code for Spunk and Moxie was provided by Black Shell Media for the purpose of this Review.
Spunk and Moxie
Pros
- Simple Single Button Controls
- Interesting Concept
- Multiple Difficulty Levels
Cons
- Repetitive Music
- Controls can be Unresponsive
- Can wind up boring after a while
