Pongo

About

Pongo is a single player casual action adventure game. It was developed by Drixy Games and was released on May 11, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Pongo" is a single-player 3D action platformer where players use a pogo stick/gun hybrid to traverse islands and defeat enemies. The game features over 45 challenging levels, puzzles, boss fights, and a quirky original soundtrack. With compelling visuals, players must balance movement and combat while avoiding traps and enjoying charming 3D environments.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

63%

Audience ScoreBased on 321 reviews

music14 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The game has a fun and silly premise, making it enjoyable for casual play.
The soundtrack is catchy and adds to the overall experience.
For its low price, it can be a decent time-waster with a variety of levels.

The jumping mechanics are inconsistent, often leading to frustration as jumps fail to register.
The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, making progression difficult or impossible at times.
Level design is repetitive and lacks variety, with many levels feeling bland and uninteresting.

music
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
53%
16%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players praising the soundtrack as catchy and enjoyable, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. However, some users criticize the limited number of tracks, repetitive nature, and the use of royalty-free music, suggesting that more original compositions would improve the game's uniqueness. Overall, while the music is generally appreciated, it could benefit from greater variety and creativity.
- “The soundtrack is amazing, the gameplay is simple but challenging enough as you progress.”
- “It was unique, had good music, cool art style, and the concept is fun.”
- “Fun, simple, love the art style and the music is great.”
- “There are only a few music tracks and they are bad and ripped.”
- “There should be more custom, creative music for this game to make it more unique, rather than putting in royalty-free music since to me they don't really make sense when putting it in a game like this.”
- “The level design is really bland, the music gets boring after 3 minutes.”
gameplay
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
49%
17%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players highlighting issues such as unresponsive controls, clunky mechanics, and a lack of polish that detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the unique jumping and shooting mechanics, others find them frustrating and poorly executed, leading to a repetitive and sometimes boring gameplay experience. Despite these criticisms, a few players enjoy the game for its low price and simple, yet engaging mechanics, suggesting it may appeal to those looking for casual entertainment.
- “The soundtrack is amazing, the gameplay is simple but challenging enough as you progress.”
- “I'm not sure if I would recommend or not recommend this game as the gameplay is fun for 10-20 minutes and I can't say this game is bad as it does what it presents you, everything works fine as well.”
- “The gameplay is very fluid and could honestly serve for some great commentary YouTube channel content.”
- “I got this one for 10 cents, and the gameplay experience makes the reason for the price obvious - non-responsive controls or at least missing mechanics that would make the clunky controls reasonable.”
- “The jumping mechanic only works half the time, and the tutorial messages are not really helpful either.”
- “Level design is almost non-existent, the art style actively goes against the gameplay, the combat is not only unnecessary but also badly designed, and even the physics system is artificial in a way that hinders gameplay.”
graphics
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
48%
8%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the vibrant, cartoonish art style and its calming aesthetic, while others criticize the visuals for being bland, poorly optimized, and lacking resolution options. Many users note that the graphics can be fun and appealing, especially to younger audiences, but also highlight issues such as glitchiness and clunky design that detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the art style has its fans, significant technical shortcomings prevent it from being universally praised.
- “The vibrant graphics are nice; you may die a couple of times, but nothing to make you rage.”
- “Love the cartoon graphics.”
- “Combined with nice graphics and amusing (but simple) gameplay, this is one of the more memorable titles I've grabbed for a quarter or less.”
- “Apart from that, the only distinguishable features are particularly bad graphics, poor optimization, and janky gameplay.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “The edges aren't even connected, which, while I get the graphics are supposed to be simplified, that's just inexcusable for a fully released game.”
story
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The reviews highlight a mixed reception regarding the game's story, with some players appreciating its emotional depth and unique concepts, such as a man's coping mechanism through a surreal journey. However, others criticize the lack of a substantial narrative, noting that the story is either minimal or non-existent, which detracts from the overall experience. Overall, while some find the story engaging, many feel it falls short in providing a meaningful plot.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “This is a very sad story of a man named Chad who lost his family, and for him to cope with his feelings, he gets on a pogo stick and goes into his own LSD-formed world... but all in all, it's good.”
- “One of the greatest story-driven games I have ever seen.”
- “The stages are pretty simple and the story is near non-existent, but hey for a buck this is a silly good time!”
- “There are no collectibles in the game, no story, nothing... why are these even there?”
- “This is a very sad story of a man named Chad who lost his family, and for him to cope with his feelings he gets on a pogo stick and goes into his own LSD-formed world... but all in all it's good.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as a mix of unintentional comedy due to poor controls and gameplay, making it a lighthearted experience for some players seeking stress relief. While opinions vary, with some finding it amusing and others not, it generally serves as a source of laughter and entertainment for those looking for a casual, silly game.
- “The controls and overall gameplay are bad, but that's why it's funny and just a laugh to try.”
- “I find it a cool game to play after struggling in another game or just when I'm stressed out. It's so childish and funny; it's like a stress reliever. If you have a few extra dollars in your wallet, you should totally buy this for the laughs.”
- “Funny game!”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game's stability is a mixed bag; while some players report it runs adequately despite occasional bugs, others highlight clunky controls and frequent glitches that detract from the experience.
- “The controls are clunky and the game is buggy.”
- “Buggy game and the mechanics are poor.”
- “There are a few glitches here and there.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Players highlight the game's exceptional replayability, with one user noting they have invested over 2000 hours into it, describing it as having "infinite replay value." Suggestions for enhancing replayability include the addition of user-generated content, such as custom maps, which could further enrich the gaming experience.
- “Best game of 2015! Pure innovation and happiness came out of me when I played this game. I have 2000 hours in it; this game has infinite replay value—just pure gold!”
- “One thing that I think would make this game a lot more replayable is the ability to make your own maps and post them for other people to download and play.”
- “One thing that I think would make this game a lot more replayable is the ability to make your own maps and post them up for other people to download and play.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's optimization is notably impressive for a 3D Unity title, with players highlighting its smooth performance despite complex gameplay elements and challenging difficulty settings. This level of optimization is considered rare and commendable within the genre.
- “Wow, I didn't even know that one game could have this much content and still run smoothly, even on hard mode.”
- “That kind of optimized gameplay is extremely rare with 3D Unity games.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that while there is some grinding involved, particularly in the early levels, it can become extremely tedious due to poor map design and unresponsive controls.
- “Extremely tedious to play through, and the map design is just bad, much like the responsiveness of the controls.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers highlight the impressive character design and advanced pogo physics, suggesting that these elements contribute to a strong sense of character development in the game.