You’ve got to admit, it’s an intuitive concept
Steam Next Fest is here, and we’ve already found plenty of cool new indie games to explore. But this might be the strangest one yet. Described as a “retro poopy precision platformer” Unko Technica offers 150 retro-inspired stages where you play as a poop in search of a toilet. (Unko means “poop” in Japanese — every day’s a school day.) The controls are simple — just a jump button. Along the way, boss fights will test your mettle, and there’s even a shop where you can purchase skins and customize your poops.
A press release from Japanese indie publisher Phoenixx Inc. is positively overflowing with poopy puns: “Time turds carefully, as one wrong means starting over from the beginning of the level. Kerplunk on top of bouncy bubbles to fling feces to new heights, hit the point of return while crossing crumbling platforms, and smear dung onto on/off switches to activate hidden paths. Collect UN-KOINS along the way to buy tougher stages where shi — things really start hitting the fan.”
The eye-catching neon level designs feel distinctive, and the music absolutely slays. The simple motion graphics of moving and morphing geometric shapes also reminds me of Earthbound, and I always enjoy being reminded of Earthbound.
While I struggle to think of other games that allow you to embody an actual coiled turd, video games have had a longstanding fascination with dookie, both human and animal. In Death Stranding, you ward off supernatural beings by making grenades out of Norman Reedus’ droppings. Palworld and Ark: Survival Evolved let you use dung as fertilizer for crops. Unsurprisingly, it’s also featured extensively in Obsidian’s 2014 South Park RPG, The Stick of Truth.
Goofy premise aside, Unko Technica has already garnered some impressive accolades, winning top honors at Bandai Namco’s GYAAR Studio 2023 Indie Game Contest. The demo’s available to play on Steam now, and the full game splashes onto PC via Steam on Nov. 19.
