Harness the power of the skulls

JamJamma is a free 2D indie action video game wherein you must collect five skulls that grant new abilities. Each one is guarded by a boss that you need to defeat first. Developed by Jão, this pixelated puzzle platformer title offers classic Metroidvania gameplay for any nostalgic fans. It’s a short game and can be completed in under 30 minutes due to the few enemies you’ll face off against. However, it still features solid gameplay.

One versus five

In JamJamma, you play as an animal skull-wearing character who ventures deep into the woods to fight four tough bosses guarding magical skulls. These skulls will give you special abilities that you can use on the other boss fights—and they’re usually the abilities of the bosses you’ve defeated. After beating them, you will be able to unlock the fifth and final boss that you will fight for the ending of the game.

The combat in this indie title is reminiscent of the Metroidvania subgenre. This mostly stems from how challenging the boss fights are. Despite the lack of low-level enemies roaming around, the five battles are nothing to scoff at. While exploring, you need to do a bit of puzzle-solving to access certain areas. The controls can be a bit iffy at times especially for beginner players—and you can’t rebind them to your preferred keys.

There’s no controller support either and the settings are too basic. You’re only given two language choices and the option to toggle the audio on and off. There’s not much in the way of the plot, as well. You’re simply tasked with getting more skulls to prove your fighting abilities. Graphics-wise, however, the 2D pixelated art can be pretty nostalgic. It’s only somewhat annoying to find the camera bouncing too high every time you jump.

A nice pick-me-up

All in all, JamJamma is a nice little slice of the classic platforming subgenre in games, if you’re feeling nostalgic. It doesn’t offer anything new but its gameplay is engaging enough with the difficulty scaling of the five enemies. However, it could really use some more configurations in the settings, such as the option to rebind keys. The camera could use some tweaking, too, to let you have visuals on your path at all times.