Penny's Big Breakaway Review

What is Penny’s Big Breakaway?

Penny’s Big Breakaway (Penny’s for the remainder of the review) is an indie 3D platformer released on February 21st, 2024. It is available on the Nintendo Switch, PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series S/X. It is developed by Evening Star and costs $30 to purchase. It follows the titular Penny as she platforms through the world using her yo-yo to overcome obstacles, all while avoiding the evil Emperor’s army of penguins. It takes around 5-7 hours to beat. I played on the Nintendo Switch and have not beaten the game myself.

Game Review:

Sometimes a game can look interesting but not live up to our expectations. This has been my experience with Penny’s Big Breakaway. I was interested in this game after seeing some gameplay trailers but I found out pretty quickly that I do not love the game once I started playing. I’ve only played an hour or two so take that as you will. While my experience with it is short, I feel like I have a clear understanding about why I don’t like this game.

Penny’s banks on its gameplay to hook its players. The platforming gameplay is its calling card but I personally didn’t find the fun in it. It’s a 3D platformer but has a static camera. This means that you can’t rotate the camera to get a better view of where you are jumping. A rotatable camera is one of the most common systems in 3D platformers and after playing through a game with a static camera I know why. There were tons of situations where I couldn’t make the jumps I wanted to because I couldn’t quite tell how far a ledge was or the depth of the environment was confusing. This really detracted from my enjoyment and kept me from liking it. 

Penny’s is built for speedrunning. It consists of longer levels with branching pathways and utilizes a complex movement system to allow for creativity for the player. The game also tracks how long it takes you to complete a level so it’s a race for the best time. I’m not into speedrunning so I didn’t feel motivated by these systems. 

The aspect of the game that is most clearly built for speedrunning is its movement mechanics. Penny can use her yo-yo to swing, dash, spin, and roll through a level. In theory this is really fun but in practice I was frustrated and annoyed at the controls. You control the yo-yo with either the right stick or the y button. The right stick is definitely the intended way to control it, but the jump button being on the right side of the controller makes it impossible to control both the yo-yo and the jump at the same time. Using the y button to use the yo-yo felt a lot more limited and didn’t give me the control I wanted. Maybe there was a way to remap the controls but the default controls are infuriating. I got so frustrated playing because I would fall and die in spots where I didn’t feel like the level was actually challenging but the controls were. I felt like I was fighting against the controls the whole time. So while the game offers a ton of freedom and creativity I felt hampered by a clunky control scheme.

There isn’t much of a story in this game. Penny is a street performer who performs for the emperor and when things go wrong the emperor sends his armies to capture her. It’s simple and silly but that’s about all it offered. I didn’t see the end of the game but from what I’ve heard from others, there’s not really much substance there. 

The art style is colorful and bright. Its character designs are very polygonal, harkening back to classic N64 style platformers. This tries to play on nostalgia and while it does, I don’t think it looks particularly good. It felt a little off to look at.

I don’t want to pile on this game so I’ll keep the review short, but I did not have a fun time. The game feels similar to a Sonic game in gameplay approaches so if that is your jam, you could like this game. I don’t particularly jive with Sonic games and I didn’t jive with this game.

Family Friendliness:

Penny’s is a family friendly game. It is bright, colorful, and whimsical. It doesn’t have scary themes and the game is all about getting through a level. There isn’t really combat outside of knocking penguins away from you. It’s only single player so not a game that can be played together but it could be great for pass’n’play.

Features for Parents:

Penny’s is level-based so there are very clear stopping points. You do lose progress in a level if you have to shut down in the middle of it. At least on the Nintendo Switch, sleep mode would be great for this game. It can also pause in the middle of a level though so you can put it down quickly if needed.

Final Verdict:

Penny’s Big Breakaway is full of cool and unique ideas but it just doesn’t deliver in terms of polish. It feels half-baked and the control scheme is a pain to use. It does offer whimsical fun and skill challenges that you could really push yourself in if you love it. But I didn’t find the fun in it and can’t recommend it in good faith.