Hacky Zack

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1-2 (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Digerati Indie Bundle: Ink & Hacky Zack, along with Ink.)

Hacky Zack is a challenging Platformer released on the PC in 2017, later being ported to Nintendo Switch in 2018 and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2019. This game has players taking the role of a kid trying to kick a hacky sack to each single-screen level’s goal.

This game uses 2D pixel art that features bright colors with backgrounds consisting of basic geometric shapes that look a bit like abstract art, along with light music with a nice beat. Both of these are decent but unspectacular, however, they succeed in putting the focus on the gameplay, which is probably for the best.

That’s because Hacky Zack is surprisingly hard given its simplistic nature. Players have a standard assortment of Platforming moves – a double-jump and wall jump, and in addition to these, the player can kick the sack in any direction using the right analog stick. There are some areas only players can go and the sack can’t pass through, and a few other Platforming-style elements like switches, but that’s pretty much it in a nutshell… and that’s plenty, because it is fiendishly difficult to multitask your own movement as well as the movement of the sack you’re focusing on.

Because of this, Hacky Zack becomes a game that a certain segment of the audience will love, and the rest will likely hate. If you’re looking for a simple, yet challenging Platformer, Hacky Zack may be worth a look, but I cannot emphasize enough that the word “challenging” is key here. If you’re prone to frustration, you may want to skip this one.

tl;dr – Hacky Zack is a challenging Platformer about kicking a hacky sack to a goal. It’s a solid Platformer with simple mechanics that are well-done, but the challenge level is so high that only those looking for something super-difficult should bother with this game.

Grade: C+

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