Wink (Early Access) – A Couch Co-Op Colorful Platformer Inspired by Old-School Classics

Wink is an awesome little indie platformer where you control a giant eyeball across a huge world with colorful visuals!

The game’s artwork is the first thing you’ll notice. It’s very well-done and polished and has that Mario-like feel to it. Everything from the enemy design to level design all flows well and doesn’t take anything too seriously.

The game’s mobs are comical and humorous with bees, giant snails, plants on skateboards and the levels have everything from desert plants to sunflowers to dancing flowers. You can kind of get the sense that the developer was inspired by old-school classics like Mario and Yoshi’s Island. It combines both 8 and 16-bit visuals.

It’s a 2D platformer with RPG and Metroidvania elements at its core. It even has local multiplayer for up to 2 players like the classics!

You play as an “Eye Guy” who’s basically a huge cyborg eye that never blinks on top of a black body. The story is simple: an oil spill is obstructing his adventure to the East with his friends. So now he needs to go investigate what’s causing the huge mess. The storyline is super simple and poses imagination and lots of logical counter questions like “why don’t they just go around?” or “why not just find another path?”

But it works. Because older games had basic storylines like that which set up a fantasy adventure based on a simple problem. Think games like Mario 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The game is totally inspired by these games in terms of storyline, level design, and level flow.

There are multiple levels and each one has a ton o of collectibles for you to find. They’re hidden in many different nooks and crannies all over the level. If you like looking for hidden secrets scattered everywhere, then you’ll enjoy Wink. If you explore, you’ll be rewarded with coins, collectibles, upgrades, and power-ups.

Yes, you can upgrade Eye Guy with new abilities or get temporary power-ups to blast those plant skateboarded to pieces! You’re armed with a laser blaster as your basic weapon. You can jump over the enemy with a single jump or just shoot them down from a distance. They all have lovely little sprite animations when they get zapped that just adds a nice subtle touch to the game. You can tell a lot of work went into the game design.

Overall, if you like creative indie platformers, try out Wink using the link below. It’s a very entertaining and imaginative platformer that has the feel and charm of the classic Nintendo platformers and is well worth a playthrough!

Download and Play Wink (Early Access)

Play

Sean Wong

Hidden indie gem finder. Anything that indie devs come up that shakes the Earth- I’m first in line. I eat indies for breakfast.