Maybe it’s me, but I’m such a sucker for games that put animals into the weirdest situations imaginable. CATO partnered up a cat with a piece of buttered toast. Squirrel with a Gun gave us… well, a squirrel with a gun. And now we have Soda-Powered Penguin, a game about a tiny penguin strapped to a giant soda bottle, using explosive bursts of carbonation to blast through brutally precise platforming challenges. It sounds completely ridiculous on paper, but after playing the demo, I genuinely think Soda-Powered Penguin might just be the next great precision platformer.
Maybe it’s me, but I’m such a sucker for games that put animals into the weirdest situations imaginable. CATO partnered up a cat with a piece of buttered toast. Squirrel with a Gun gave us… well, a squirrel with a gun. And now we have Soda-Powered Penguin, a game about a tiny penguin strapped to a giant soda bottle, using explosive bursts of carbonation to blast through brutally precise platforming challenges. It sounds completely ridiculous on paper, but after playing the demo, I genuinely think Soda-Powered Penguin might just be the next great precision platformer.
Developed by solo-developer Domo Yoro, Soda-Powered Penguin is every bit as good as its wonderfully absurd premise. Imagine the momentum and flow of Celeste mixed with the speed of old-school Sonic the Hedgehog and spectacle of Pizza Tower, all wrapped up in charming pixel art and a movement system that feels incredible from the second you pick up the controller. Dashing, double-jumping, and squeezing through impossibly tight gaps never gets old. The controls are razor sharp, and every challenge feels thoughtfully crafted to introduce a new mechanic or push your mastery of the movement a little further.
The demo itself is surprisingly substantial too, offering two full-length levels packed with over thirty collectible bottlecaps, hidden bonus content, stat tracking, gameplay modifiers, and enough optional challenges to encourage multiple runs. It also comes loaded with quality-of-life features like fully remappable controls, controller and keyboard support, an assist mode, and even little developer insight articles tucked away for curious players.
It’s rare to see a game built around such a simple core gimmick that still feels this deep and polished. The whole thing is bursting with personality, and even when I was slamming face-first into a wall for the tenth time, it always felt like my fault, not the game’s. The fact that all of this is being built by a single developer makes it even more impressive.
The only downside? Domo Yoro estimates the full release is still around two years away. But if the current demo is any indication, this is one of those games that’s absolutely worth letting cook.
I’ll absolutely be picking it up on day one, and if you’re a fan of precision platformers, you should probably keep an eye on this one too.
Steam: Soda-Powered Penguin – https://store.steampowered.com/app/2116290/SodaPowered_Penguin/
