Build space structures with this co-op game

Bonkies is an indie game developed by Studio Gauntlet and published by Crunching Koalas. It’s a couch local co-op game, wherein you and three other players will go to outer space and build various structures. The catch, you are monkeys with a mechanical arm. There’s also no clear instruction of what to build. Just a vague shape of what’s expected. Bonkies is fun but has short gameplay that you can finish in a few hours.

How to play the game

In Bonkies, you and your three other friends will be playing one space monkey, clad in a banana-fuelled jetpack and robot arms. The task is to construct buildings. Unfortunately, you will have various handicaps. For one, each of the monkeys will only have one arm. Secondly, the objects that you need to build are heavy. You and your friends need to cooperate and communicate to move the objects and place them in the right position.

The third handicap has something to do with creativity. As mentioned, the game will not provide you with instructions to build the structure. Instead, all you get is the shape of what it is supposed to be. With such a guide, you and your party will need to try and fit the objects. As an added challenge, the task comes with a time limit, usually around 3-5 minutes.

Bonkies is similar to the sandbox mode of Ultimate Horse Chicken. Instead of racing against other players though, you need to help each other complete the task. You can play it solo, but it’s really meant as a party game. As noted, the gameplay is rather short and the objects are limited in both mechanics and shapes as well. This aspect of the game could use an improvement so as to not feel repetitive after a few rounds. 

Fun party game

Overall, Bonkies is a great evening-filling puzzle game that you can play with your friends on your hang out days. The game has fun gameplay that encourages cooperation rather than competition. With its simple mechanics, it can appeal even to non-gamers. It does not have much content-wise, but it is still enough for an hour or two with family and friends.