Pikuniku Review: A Puzzle Platformer Where Kicking Is the Answer

Pikuniku review: simple, silly and short

Pikuniku poses the same question over and over, whether to kick the thing in front of you, and the answer is always yes. That is the whole mood of the game, and it is a good one. Developed by the indie collective Sectordub and published by Devolver Digital, Pikuniku is a colorful, straightforward puzzle platformer that never takes itself too seriously. Charming design, clever dialogue and a general aloofness set it apart from the crowd.

The hero is Piku, a red oval with legs, and the job is to save the world from the villainous Mr. Sunshine and his corn-stealing ways. Wikipedia describes the plot more broadly, with Piku trying to stop a scheme to harvest the island's resources. Either way, the story is a light excuse to bounce through a ridiculous world. Sounds easy? It is. Simplicity is the star of the game, and it shows in every part of the design.

The game came out on January 24, 2019 for Windows, macOS, Linux and Nintendo Switch, with an Xbox One version following on March 12, 2020. Metacritic shows a score of 76 out of 100 on Switch, described as generally favorable, and 74 on PC, described as mixed or average. Outlets such as Destructoid, GameSpot and Nintendo Life each gave it 8 out of 10. This Pikuniku review sits in that same range: a lot of fun for a small price, with a clear ceiling.

A word on how the game was played for this review. It ran on PC and on Switch, and neither version showed game-breaking bugs or graphical hitches. That clean performance fits the clean design. The Switch version suits the game well, since its short sessions and simple controls fit handheld play, and the PC version looks equally crisp.

Pikuniku is easy to describe and hard to pin down. The closest comparison is a toy: a thing you poke to see what it does, which happens to have a story attached. That makes the review tricky, because the game is at its best when nothing in particular is happening and Piku is simply being kicked into a wall for fun. A player who wants challenge, depth or a long arc will find it thin. A player who wants a small, cheerful, strange afternoon will find exactly that.

Design, music and controls

Geometric characters populate a 2D world painted in the bright, bold colors of a kindergartener's crayon box. The music, built from single notes, is charming in its playfulness and recalls MIDI tunes from games three decades older. Nothing here is subtle, and nothing needs to be.

The controls are just as basic. Piku has a flimsy kick that gets used constantly, both to solve puzzles and to irritate neighbors. He can roll into an oval for more speed and swing from hooks with his nimble legs. Puzzles mostly boil down to kicking or pushing objects onto switches, and the lasso, the ball roll and the occasional minecart ride add variety. Boss battles are easy, with the only real obstacle being Piku's imprecise movement, as in the moments where you meant to kick a feeble leg the other way.

None of this is about difficulty. Nothing in the first stretch asks for much more than curiosity, and the learning curve is flat. The pleasure is in watching a simple rule, the kick, be applied to ever more unlikely things. A game that sticks to one verb this faithfully ends up with a clear identity, and the identity is likable.

Nosy, kicky and funny

Pikuniku's strength comes from simply being present in this ridiculous world. Despite the platformer elements, it plays more like an adventure game that rewards the nosy player. Comic dialogue carries the story, and without it the game would feel much more tedious.

The game also expects its players to act like trolls. Kick a whole pottery store, kick skulls, kick baby bird eggs, and it rewards the destruction with trophies. The weak point is that the idea stops there. Piku could have been more of a menace than a robot-kicking hero, and once the story shifts into boss battles, much of the nonsense nuance goes with it.

The world-building works best in small touches. Pottery shops, skulls and eggs are all kickable, and the game pays the player for the mischief. The more the game leans on those details, the better it is. The more it hurries toward the next boss, the more it starts to feel like any other platformer with a good color palette.

Co-op and the lack of things to do

The world wants to be explored, and trophies reward side quests, but there is little to do outside the linear main questline. A three-hour playtime, three map areas and thin uses for currency and gear leave the whole thing feeling underfed. Jeuxvideo.com went further and called it very short, under five hours.

Nine co-op levels extend the game, with two players solving puzzles as Piku and Niku. The co-op is challenging and fun, and it suffers from the same issue as the campaign: it leaves you wanting more.

Why the short length matters

Three hours is an honest runtime for a game this light. Plenty of platformers outstay their welcome, and Pikuniku does not. The complaint is not that it stops too soon in a practical sense. The complaint is that the ideas it introduces, such as the trophy system, the currency and the gear, never grow into anything. Each one looks like the first chapter of a bigger mechanic and ends as a footnote.

For a price of about 13 dollars, that is a fair trade, and the co-op levels soften it. The sense of an unfinished idea still stays with the player after the credits.

Pikuniku at a glance

• Developer: Sectordub, a four-person studio.
• Publisher: Devolver Digital.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux and Nintendo Switch (January 24, 2019); Xbox One (March 12, 2020); Stadia (February 9, 2021).
• Length: about three hours for the main story, plus nine co-op levels.
• Price noted at review: about 13 dollars.
• Recognition: official selection at the XOXO Festival and the PAX East Indie Megabooth in 2018.

Is Pikuniku worth it? The verdict and the could-have-been

The most disappointing part of Pikuniku is the could-have-been. A beta shown in 2017 felt closer to what the early trailers promised: political intrigue and covert operations wrapped in a playful bow of circles and cloud shapes. Robots could be beaten by feeding them paradoxes through dialogue choices. Mr. Sunshine was a more visible character in town, where the finished game turns him into an unseen evil. You were never sure which townsfolk to trust, and the cheery geometry covered a layer of distrust.

The finished game is not bad, not by any means. It is simple and entertaining, and it leaves a hollow feeling, as if a better game stood just behind it. Had Pikuniku been a mobile title, the mechanics and ingenuity might be celebrated and the wish for an update would be a compliment. Android and iOS versions followed in April 2026.

On Switch and PC it is a fun time-waster, with three hours of entertainment and a lot of laughs. At about 13 dollars that is a fair price, though neither the solo story nor the co-op levels offer much replay value. The recommendation is easy for anyone who likes small, funny, quick games. Buy it for the jokes and the kicking, finish it in an afternoon, and hope Sectordub and Devolver return to the world with a bit more depth.

A last note on audience. Families, newcomers to the genre and people who like their comedy mild will probably get the most from it. Players who care about tight platforming will feel the loose movement more. Either way, the game is honest about what it is, and the honesty counts for a lot.

Sources

• Pikuniku, Wikipedia — developer, publisher and release details