Jack and Jill DX is an indie platformer that was developed by Rohan Narang and ported and published by Ratalaika Games.
Your goal is to reunite Jack and/or Jill with the other member the duo. Jack or Jill (since you can play as either) will automatically run until they hit a wall or meet their demise and all you have to do is trigger the jump so that they avoid obstacles and their way to the end.
Since you play the game with just one button, there isn’t a whole lot I need to say about the gameplay. When you press the button, your character jumps. You don’t have any real control over the height of the jump so it’s more about timing than anything. There were a few parts with wall jumps where the cooldown for the jump caused by character to fall into the abyss rather than springing upwards, but other than that, I don’t really have any complaints.
The game includes 140 levels split across 7 worlds and each world tends to introduce one or two new game mechanics or power ups. I found this really helped to keep me engaged and my favourite power ups included the wings, which turns the game into a Flappy Bird clone for a few seconds, and the trainers, which speed things up for a brief spell.
As you progress, you also unlock minigames. You play these games in order to win tickets you can use to purchase hats for Jack and Jill and new colour schemes. The minigames also use just one button and include a bit of jumping, flying, shooting, etc.
I liked the visuals for this game as they’re simple and clean with a monochromatic colour palette. The palettes you can buy are also a nice way to keep the visuals fresh if you fancy a change.
The music and sound effects are cute but I did encounter some minor problems with them as it seems that sounds won’t trigger in quick succession. For example, if you collect three coins together, you’ll probably only hear the sound effect for two of them. While this isn’t a deal-breaker, it does take the edge off moments in the game that would otherwise be more exciting and dynamic.
This isn’t an expensive game and if you fancy a couple of hours of something simple and cute, it’s probably worth checking out. Personally, I think it’s far better as a portable console title as you can pick it up, play for a few minutes, and put it down when you’re done, which is great if you’re travelling.
Jack and Jill DX is available on PC, PS4, PSVita, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. I received my copy of the game for free as part of #IndieSelect. However, I’m under no obligation to review it or be positive about it.
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