SHOUT OUT - The Gunk is a wholesome adventure and a Game Pass gem

Diamond in the sub.

By Jonathan Garrett
20/12/22

NOTE: thatHITBOX Shout Out’s are not sponsored content. They’re games, developers, individuals, or issues that we want to highlight and share purely out of interest.

When you combine light third person platforming, cheerful voice acting, and Mario Sunshine / Luigi’s Mansion esque clean up mechanics, you get The Gunk. Thunderful Games released this action adventure back in 2021, and although we’ve only just discovered it via Game Pass, we’re glad we did.

There’s something very Beyond Good and Evil about its wholesome character interactions and family friendly feel, and although there isn’t a huge amount of depth to the gameplay itself, it kept us locked in from start to finish. It remains relatively low stakes throughout, and although the story goes to some strange places, it’s earnest and always means well.

While the awkwardness of some animations, and the stretched pacing in the closing chapters leaves much to be desired, we can’t help but come away from our time with The Gunk pleasently surprised. Also, any game that features a Metroid Prime style scanning feature is an immediate win as far as we’re concerned.