Digerati Indie Bundle
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : Spaceboy Games
Published By : Digerati
Genre : Platformer, Arcade, Action
Release Date : Dec 24, 2018

For Christmas this past year, Digerati decided to bundle up a couple of their indie titles, in a two-for-one special with the Digerati Indie Bundle on the Nintendo Switch. Combining two platforming beauty’s from the developers at Spaceboy Games, the bundle gives us Ink and Hacky Zack.

Now, it wasn’t that long ago, in fact just this past summer, that The Switch Effect was able to review one of these games, Ink. I have played Ink myself, and I fully agree with everything that my colleague wrote in his review on the site. So, please read his review here, as I would not want to undermine his words in any way.

Click the image

So, for the remainder of this review I would like to focus on the second title in this Indie Bundle, Hacky Zack. A platforming game, not in the traditional sense, but still just as challenging and fun.

The game follows the typical formula of a platform puzzler. Each level comes with a goal that you’ll need to reach, and numerous obstacles that will need to be tackled between your start and end points. But the most important detail, is what exactly needs to make it to that end point of each level. It isn’t Zack, but you’ll need his hacky-sack skills in order to get the yellow hacky-sack to the end gate.

It probably sounds simple, just get the hackysack from Point A to Point B. If only that were true. With the way the levels are made, you’ll have to not only think about where you’re going to put the hacky-sack, but also where Zack can go. It introduces a bit of multi-thinking that can be a bit daunting at times.

Zack himself is pretty straightforward. He can jump, double jump, and wall jump, as well as kick the hacky-sack (naturally), which can be influenced by how you aim the left thumbstick. The only surfaces Zack can interact with are the thick, bold-lined ones. For the hacky-sack, things are a little different. You’ll notice a bunch of dashed lines through many of the levels, which act as hard surfaces for the sack. So if it’s vertical, it’ll act like a wall, and horizontal will be it’s own resting surface.

You’ll also come across your fair share of hazards. At first, you’ll just need to be weary about where the dashed “floors” are for the hacky-sack, since there won’t be a standing area for Zack underneath. Eventually, though, you’ll meet some switches that will activate surfaces for Zack, but only for a small window. As well as spike floors and walls that will cause a level loss if either Zack or the sack hits them.

Overall, I think this bundle is a great offering of games. To echo my fellow writer’s thoughts, Ink offers a really unique and beautiful concept, of a blind-run platformer in which you need to colorfully reveal the levels as you play them. However, it’s a concept that runs dry pretty quickly.

However, I feel that Hacky Zack is the savior of this Indie Bundle. It’s not the first time that a game has forced you to get an object to a specific point, rather than the controllable character. Unlike Ink though, I didn’t feel like the “gimmick” (for lack of a better term) runs dry in this game. If anything, it just led to more frustrating moments of trying to think for the hacky-sack and Zack at the same time.

For the price, and the fact that you’re getting two games in one, this Digerati Indie Bundle is more than worth swiping up from the eShop. Platforming fans are sure to get there’s money worth from at least one of these titles. And, the best part is snatching this bundle saves you a few bucks from buying the titles individually! So don’t wait, grab your copy today!