Kick the Buddy
New
- Genre Arcade games
- Players 1
- Session 5 min
- Price Free
- Updated
A sandbox with exactly one prop in it. Buddy is a rag doll who cannot be broken permanently, and the game hands you an arsenal and no instructions about what to do with it. There are no levels, no timer and no failure state, which makes it less a game than a physics toy: you are here to find out how a particular tool interacts with a particular limb, and then to try the next one.
| Mouse | Click and drag Buddy around the screen |
|---|---|
| Click | Fire the selected tool or weapon |
| Touch | Tap and swipe to drag, tap the icons to choose a tool |
| Menu | Open the arsenal and the shop |
How to play Kick the Buddy
- Start by dragging. Grabbing a limb and throwing the doll across the room shows you the physics model faster than any weapon does.
- Work through the arsenal rather than settling on a favourite. Each tool has its own reaction, and the interesting ones are rarely the loudest.
- Collect the coins that fall out of every interaction. They are the only progression here and they unlock the rest of the arsenal.
- Notice which tools pay well and which have stopped paying. Reward tapers off with repetition, so rotating tools earns faster than repeating one.
- Try tools against the scenery, not just the doll. Several of them react to the room in ways they do not react to Buddy.
Tips
- The explosives early in the list earn quickly and cost little, which makes them the sensible way to fund everything further down.
- Swap the moment earnings dip. The game quietly rewards variety and quietly punishes grinding one button.
- Nothing is lost by experimenting. There is no health bar to manage and no run to ruin, so the worst outcome is a dull reaction.
Questions about Kick the Buddy
Is there an objective?
No. There is no score to beat and nothing to lose; the arsenal is the progression and curiosity is the motivation.
Can Buddy actually be destroyed?
No. He stretches, flies and folds, then resets. The game is built so that nothing you do has a permanent consequence.
What are the coins for?
Unlocking the rest of the tools. They drop from almost every interaction, so the arsenal opens up steadily just by playing.
Does it work on a touch screen?
Yes, and arguably better. Dragging a rag doll with a finger is more direct than doing it with a cursor.
