JungleKID is a free action video game wherein you must brave a hostile jungle to reach the legendary snow mountain. Developed by hanamogeta, this cutesy 2D indie game is a hardcore platformer title that challenges your reflexes. It offers numerous levels, hidden items, and enemy characters roaming around the map.

Similar to games like Celeste, Hollow Knight, and Super Meat Boy, JungleKID doesn’t joke around with its difficulty. The gameplay mechanics here are just like other platformer games but your movements have to be precise—otherwise, you’ll constantly be getting a Game Over for every enemy and dangerous obstacle you encounter.

Use that double-jump well

The story of JungleKID begins with an unlucky boy getting into a strange place and finding himself lost inside a treacherous jungle. By controlling his movements, you must traverse all of the fatal pitfalls and platforms in each level—all the while evading the various enemies that move about. There are over 20 different levels available and the difficulty scales sharply for each. You’ll also encounter formidable boss monsters.

Included among the 50 hidden items you can collect across the map, these boss fights will drop items that grant you new abilities such as shooting and breathing underwater. You get instructions on how to use them after each fight—however, the basic controls are never explicitly taught. You can find them inside the Pause menu, which displays Continue, List of Treasures, Settings, Back to World Map, and Back to Title.

Similarly placed out of easy access in JungleKID is the Assist Mode or Jump Assistoption, which can be found under General in the Settings menu. This allows you to come back alive from a much nearer location rather than start all the way from a previous save in Normal Mode. It’s helpful for those having a hard time with the difficulty, as you easily die from one hit.

Could use some adjustments

All in all, JungleKID is a great indie platformer game to try out if you’re looking for more challenging titles in this subgenre that are rewarding rather than punishing. While the tutorial and game mode selection could use some tweaking in their displays, the overall gameplay features solid platforming mechanics and a collection system that will actually influence the ending you get.