Smack Monkey

Smack Monkey has changed my life. My whole outlook on everything that exists in this world, in fact even in the entire universe. I can never look at anything I know the same way ever again. This game represents emotions most humans could never comprehend. But I can. Thanks to this game I have been awakened to many things previously thought unimaginable. Reject humanity, return to monke.

Dis game was FIRE! My monke? going THROUGH IT! my fault. fun game. music slaps. art slaps. monke must get to date. bye. gonna go play some more

This game really makes you feel like Smack Monkey. I stayed awake for hours, dreaming, contemplating of bananas after this game. I will never be the same. When John Monkey from smack monkey said "Its smacking time" I cried tears of joy. 111/10 would smack again

This game is where boys become men, and men become monkey

i played the demo for a long time and really enjoyed it. i hope this game finds more attention!

I enjoyed this a lot. As of writing this I've managed to beat the game and all of the achievements. For the most part, the platforming is great. Movement generally feels fluid and satisfying, and each section introduces new mechanics that work well together. Bouncing around after messing a jump is frustrating but also pretty funny. I especially enjoyed the ice and tower sections. The spritework for the environment, background, character, and UI are also great. The dialogue and story are lighthearted and charming. The music is simple but works well. However, I do have a major complaint: I outright did not enjoy the final section of the game (the cloud section). In my opinion it is by far the most challenging section. I reached it about 1/3 of the way through my first playthrough, while the last 2/3 of my playthrough consisted of reaching and attempting the final section over and over again. Mainly, I think the final section is too punishing, even for this type of punishing platformers. A large portion of the drops, despite the tight precision and timing required to avoid them, will send you back to the very beginning of the game. For comparison, the infamous snake ride in "Getting Over It" is very punishing but actually quite avoidable. It's mainly supposed to have a psychological impact on you, and you'll probably only mess up if you lose your nerve and get bad luck. It does not help that the final section is quite long. I kept on expecting to have reached the end but kept on being surprised by how much more I needed to complete. Furthermore, because of the mechanic it introduces, the final section is dependent on memorization, unless you can sightread very well. This mechanic is genuinely very fun, but it makes you move into new parts of the map and react to time-sensitive jumps. On initial attempts, you need to very quickly assess what to do, or risk falling and potentially restarting the game. While this works in speedy platformers with regular checkpoints such as Celeste, I don't think it meshes well with punishing games like Smack Monkey. For comparison, Getting Over It and Jump King make you progress piece-by-piece through the map. Every time you reach a new obstacle, you can take a minute to plan how you'll get past it. Even though your initial plan usually ends in disaster, it's your fault for forming a flawed plan or executing it poorly. However, if you're both not given enough time to form a plan and also punished severely for it, it can be extremely frustrating. The worst example for me is a jump which requires you to move in the complete opposite direction that you would expect, otherwise you will slide in the opposite direction and fall. It is almost impossible to notice the correct direction on your first attempt, and I was completely baffled when I messed it up. In general, I think the final section could have been improved in a few different ways, but I think the most effective method is simply to replace most or all of the drops that send you to the beginning of the map. This allows you to have fun with the mechanic it introduces while still applying pressure with drops that make you lose some, but not all, of your progress. Additionally, it will remove the frustration of not being able to sightread new obstacles that you reach.

I haven't enjoyed smacking a monkey this much since Sekiro

Monke run, jump, smash, climb, swing—BIG FUN! Graphic good, fur fluffy. Music boom boom, monke happy. Monke get stuck. Monke like.