Sawbuck Gamer

Punch Quest

Million Puncho Baby

Punch Quest is a great game for fans of punching things.

By Matt Kodner • November 12, 2012

In Punch Quest, you are a beefcake on a quest, and that quest is to punch. Your targets are bats, skeletons, treasure chests, oversized meats—really anything you can dig your overpowered fists into. Once a skeleton has been punched to pieces, you can uppercut its skull into the next monster to cross your never-ending path. Punchos—the coin of this world—are earned for being especially bash-ful; you can spend on special moves and costumes.

Despite having just two buttons—both are used for punching—there’s a surprising amount of depth to the game if you play attentively. The more you jab, the faster you run. Meanwhile, uppercuts—the game’s form of jumps—slow you down considerably, but they’re necessary to navigate the obstacle course. (It’s like a more involved version of Jetpack Joyride.) And to keep it light, Quest is graced with a cynical gnomic guardian who harps apparent gnomisms like, “Vases are evil. Punch them.” Or “Gnomes invented punching, but WE used it only for good!”

As in Joyride, there are easily accomplished quests that amount to “do this X times.” But in a charming gesture, Quest will occasionally remind its players to step away from the grind and enjoy themselves with the smaller details of the game. In multiple instances the gnome chirps, “You should probably spend all these Punchos on hats.” Though playing as a purple-skinned brawler with a funny-looking turban doesn’t make the game any easier, it does makes the quest that much more enjoyable.

Share this with your friends and enemies

Write a scintillating comment