#wunderling

[nocontextraocow]

[gaming]

Indie Game Spotlight: Wunderling

This week we got tired of playing a hero and decided to be a goon. Today’s Indie Game Spotlight covers Wunderling, a 2D platformer that features some of the best pixel art you’ll ever see. Think 16- and 32-bit platformers, if they made the most of 32,000 colors and fluid animation to deliver something truly magical. In the game, you play as a low-level video game goon tasked by the evil witch Kohlrabi to track down and defeat the hero, Carrot Man—a job made slightly easier because you’ve just been given the power to JUMP!  

We chatted with Niklas Istenes, founder and CEO of Retroid, who also fulfilled the roles of producer and game designer on Wunderling. Read on!

What was the main inspiration for the game?

Wunderling is based on an older game we made called Cow Dash, where the player plays a cow that can’t stop moving forward and backward. It’s sort of the same mechanic, except we developed the story, pixel art, and code from scratch for Wunderling. Wind-up Knight was a source of inspiration as well.

How does Wunderling differ from other platformers?

Wunderling is quite unique because the character can’t stop or change direction at will. You need to plan ahead to navigate each level and decide which walls you want to bounce from to change direction. The game has more than 100 levels, all of which are handcrafted and contain a hidden treasure. Merely completing a level won’t be super challenging at first, but if you want more depth, we really recommend going for the treasure! Getting it and completing the level will yield valuable customization items such as glasses, hats, video game references, and more. Wunderling also features a very interesting story, penned by Alex Faciane, in which you get to see the bad guys squabbling behind the scenes :)

If you could have a crossover with any video game franchise, what would it be and why? 

The game makes several references to other franchises—Super Mario Bros., in particular. However, once you go deeper into Wunderling, the similarities give way for a totally unique experience. You might have guessed that I’m also a big fan of Super Smash Bros. It would be AWESOME to have a crossover with Nintendo’s IP, but the Wunderling would not be a particularly good fighter: It would just keep walking, thus falling off the stage!

If you were placed in your game, do you think you would survive?

Being dropped into the Vegetable Kingdom as myself? I think I’d be totally fine since basically everyone is a vegetable. What harm could they possibly do to me? I’d be safe except for those nasty spike balls…

Ready to be a goon? Wunderling is available now on Steam and Nintendo Switch! Or you can stay updated here.

[nintendocafe]

Wunderling arrives on Nintendo Switch on March 5th

[givemegifs]

[yesterdayssymphony]

Storytime! So Anthony and I spent all this time at the #wunderling booth checking out the game and finally meeting @facianea and @thecompletionist but I only awkwardly say hi and briefly talk to Alex before we leave. We walk away and Anthony breaks out his pictures and I’m just like !!! I should have asked for a picture 😩 but at this point I’m like do I really wanna be that weirdo who goes back for a picture after leaving? And he’s just like it’s up to you, we’re passing by them again. If you don’t want to embarrass you, I’ll embarrass you lol. And I’m like okay fine. So we get back to their booth and Anthony goes up to them and says “hey we were here earlier but my friend was too nervous to ask for a picture.” And Gerard is all like “You want a picture?? Yea get over here!” So I do. And he’s just like “You know what this means right? You get a Beard Bros sandwich!” And I didn’t know what to do with myself lmao

And that’s how I got this pic and like the most epic sandwich ever at #paxeast2017

[jj-wildheart]

Wunderling DX (2022)

[gamenewsworld]

Wunderling Review | TheXboxHub

Wunderling Review | TheXboxHub

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What if the bad guy was the protagonist? One with hopes and dreams, and not some common thing to be stomped on. This is the premise of Wunderling– a clever little puzzle platformer where players have access to the quintessential jump button and a few other tricks. While largely simple in both gameplay mechanics and game design, Wunderling functions well thanks to its bite-sized levels…

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[4colorrebellion]

4cr Plays - Wunderling

If you think about it from the right perspective, Mario is a monster. Think of all of the little Goombas that he has killed - Goombas who were just minding their own business and living their lives! Heck, think about how Bowser must feel! He just invited Peach over to his castle - maybe a little forcefully - and now Mario is tearing down his kingdom!

As silly as that seems, the developers of Wunderling have taken that premise and run with it. Their platform puts you in the shoes of a lowly underling, and asks what happens if that underling were made... a little more wonderful. What if the equivalent of a Goomba were given the power to jump?

You play as the Wunderling, a simple game goon. You have your default AI behavior - you walk in a direction until you hit a wall, then turn and walk until you hit the next wall. One day, after the hero has rampaged past, you’ve found yourself elevated beyond your station. You still uncontrollably walk in a direction until you hit a wall. However, you can now jump! With great power comes great responsibility, however, and you’ve also been tasked with tracking down and getting revenge on the hero. Oh, and if that wasn’t stressful enough, you also have been given a powerful addiction to magical seeds - your new powers require a lot of fuel. 

That is the basic premise of Wunderling. You progress through a series of short side-scrolling stages. Your goal is to make it to the portal to the next stage. However, getting there is not as simple as moving from left to right. You can’t control your movement. You simply move in a direction until you hit a wall, then your turn. All you can control is when you jump. As a result, each stage becomes a sort of puzzle - you need to find the right times and locations to jump to carve a path to the exit. 

You can’t take it as a leisurely pace either, as you need to constantly feed your need for magic power or face death. Each stage is filled with magic seeds that buy you more time. However, each seed can only be activated once - after hitting it, it blooms into a flower and can no longer sustain you. Now, often this isn’t a huge problem. However, each stage also has a hidden treasure - a cosmetic item that you can use to customize your Wunderling. 

Wunderling, then, is a bit of a cross between an endless runner game like Bit.Trip Runner, a traditional platformer, and a sort of puzzle game where you try to find the most efficient route through each stage while also trying to find as many treasures as you can. It’s a weird and clever blend of ideas that I have found surprisingly satisfying to work my way through. 

A lot of that satisfaction comes down to clever design from the developers at Retroid (who, as it turns out, are in the same town I live in - Gothenburg, Sweden). Wunderling is quite polished. The levels rise elegantly in difficulty, adding new tricks just as you start to let your guard down. New abilities and challenges are brought in at a nice pace, and you never get too overwhelmed. If you make a mistake, it is easy to restart and try again. Even the controls feel snappy and responsive. I was quite impressed with the level of polish.

I haven’t quite enjoyed the presentation as much as the core gameplay. The pixel art is functional, but nothing memorable in the constant stream of pixel-based indie platformers. Also, while I found the premise amusing, the writing itself is a little over-the-top and the jokes are a bit forced. I found myself clicking through the cutscenes in order to get back into the action. Still - there’s nothing particularly offensive or wrong with the presentation. It just didn’t click for me. 

Overall, Wunderling is an addictive blend of puzzle, platformer, and runner. It takes an amusing premise - placing you in the shoes of a random grunt - and runs with it, creating an inventive little game. I recommend giving it a shot.

A copy of Wunderling was provided for this review.

Nintendo eShop

Official Webpage