Pumpkin Jack

released on Oct 23, 2020

Pumpkin Jack is a Spooky Scary 3D platformer in which you embody Jack, the Mythical Pumpkin Lord! Dive into an Epic Adventure through otherworldly landscapes and help the Evil annihilate the Good!


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A perfectly adequate 3D platformer than earns a little bit of a bump from a great sense of style & me personally having a lot of fun with the traversal abilities. The spooky style atmosphere is fun & consistent, with a great artistic sense in the modelwork & music. In the gameplay department, I think this offers the bare bones of what you'd want in a 3D platformer but not in a bad way: collectibles, costume options; lots of ways to be a completionist that isn't too time consuming.

While I appreciate the briefness of the gameplay time, I do have a few little gripes that popped up here & there that I think mainly involved the minigame content. Some of the Jack's head puzzles were a little irritating to control, especially kicking the bombs or Santa presents due to weird hit detection (but not insurmountable). Also not a huge fan of some of the flying segments but particularly the gargoyle ride where button presses are added (the most irritating part of the game for me).

These aren't really huge hurdles though, since I think broadly this game is exactly what I'd want more of in the indie space: shorter but still decently paced experiences with solid controls & design as the focus. Fun time, would recommend.

Played the first level and seemed super fun

This is a retro-style throwback to the early generation of 3D action platformers: Crash Bandicoot and Gex have some serious DNA in this one. It's not a GREAT game, but it's Halloweeny enough, and made me nostalgic for the PS1 days.

This is the perfect Halloween game for scaredy cats like me. It's charming, funny and full of Halloween spirit.
The gameplay and overall style is reminiscent of older 3D platformers, though it's on the simpler side for both combat and platforming. The game is also completely linear, with the exception of some collectibles off the beaten path, but that wasn't an issue for me.
Most of the challenge I encountered throughtout my playtime was in the boss fights. They're thematically and mechanically distinct, but usually boil down to dying a few times while figuring out their attack patterns.

In short: This is a simple and charming game and is great for spending a chill Hallows' Eve under a blanket. It took me about 5 hours to complete with some collectible hunting on the side. Perfectly reasonable for a game of this caliber.
I'm also very impressed considering this was basically a one-man developer. Well done!

Sights & Sounds
- Looks like a polished HD remake late-PS1/early-PS2 game in the best possible way. Like a Spirit Halloween store set up shop in a Spyro level
- Lots of spooky theming throughout every level and in every character design
- The music follows the same aesthetic (think Golden Era MGM horror movie soundtracks), though there's some interesting takes on classical pieces as well
- There isn't much voice work, but the narrator does a good job

Story & Vibes
- In this game, you're play as the bad guy. Your mission is to destroy the world at the devil's bidding. That's the basic gist of the story
- The game is pretty endearingly goofy throughout. All the evil you're spreading is done so in an appropriately cartoonish way
- As you might expect, this is a great game to play during Halloween season

Playability & Replayability
- The controls feel tight and responsive. Combat is okay, but you can cheese most enemies with your ranged attacks
- Sometimes in 3D character action platformers, there's just no good solution for the camera. This game tries valiantly to--and largely succeeds at--keeping scenery from obstructing your views, but you'll still find yourself taking hits from enemies you had no chance at seeing and risking blind jumps occasionally
- There's a lot of nice variety to the gameplay, much like late 90s/early 00s 3D platformers this game pays homage to. There's on-rails race sequences like Crash Bandicoot, long and challenging platforming sequences like Mario 64, big arena boss fights like Spyro, and goofy humor like Gex
- I don't know if I'll ever replay the game, but I enjoyed my time with it

Overall Impressions & Performance
- Overall, I'm surprised with the highly polished look and feel of the game. I didn't go in expecting much, but I was really pleased with how high-quality the entire package is
- That high quality extends to the game's performance. It ran extremely well in 4k at 60 FPS without taxing my setup too hard

Final Verdict
7.5/10. A really nice surprise. Definitely worth at least adding to your wishlist if you're jonesing for a 3D platformer that doesn't overstay its welcome

Souls like bir oyun olarak düşündüm ama alakası bile yokmuş meğerse. Lineer , kendi tarzında ilerleyen tatlı minik bir oyunmuş ama indie bir oyun olduğundan ötürü çok da mükemmel yapmıyor yaptıklarını. Mesela en kötüsü ve bunlardan en göze çarpanı oyun temposu. Aşırı yavaş ki can sıkıyor keşke biraz daha hızlı olsaymış. 1,5x olsa bu oyun tadından yenmez. Hikayesi de biraz çocukça ve karakterler hikayede anlatılanlar gibi hissettirmiyor sana. Sonra mesela aksiyonu çok yavan hem mekaniksel olarak hem de karakter çeşitliliği olarak. Aslında süresine göre oldukça yeterli ama her saniye çıktıklarından ve 1-2 tanesi dışında sana hiçbir zorluk teşkil etmediğinden çoğu gereksiz. Her bölüm kendi içerisinde mini gamelere sahip ki oldukça iyi yapılmışlar bunları sevdim oyunda sana en çok zevk veren bölümler bunlar. Zor olmayan boss savaşlarına da sahip ama varlıkları yokluklarından daha iyi yani olması iyi olmuş. Platform ögelerine sahip olmasına rağmen oldukça yavan ve basit yani özel hissettirmiyor. Kısacası oyun kendi çapında özgün ve iyi yanlara sahip ama genel kitlesi büyük olarak tahmin ediyorum ki küçük çocuklara özel yapılmış. Gerek oynanışı olsun gerek oyunun mizahı olsun. Bu yüzden ben çok yükselemedim buna ama seveni illa olur. İndie avcısıysanız oynayabilirsiniz öneriyorum.
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