You know? I always enjoy a short and sweet platforming challenge every once in a while. Being an older gamer, I don’t have as much time as you young kids to sink hours upon hours into a live-service game or massive RPG adventure. Sometimes it’s nice to get a sweet little game I can complete and enjoy in an hour or two with some challenge. Enter today’s title for discussion, Hatup!

Developed by Naoka Games and Eastasiasoft, Hatup scratches a particular itch I love to entertain from time to time: short game in a genre that is just a relaxing, fun time. Plus, it’s a wonderful introductory game that I can pitch to my friends to give platformers a try. 

A perfect platformer for beginners

So what is Hatup? It’s a platformer where you play a cute little character whose goal is to get to the door with its hat on. You do this by finding keys to unlock the door at the end of the level. You get three lives to do so per stage. If you lose all three lives, the keys reset. So you start over and have to get those keys again.  

Where the puzzle element comes in is that more obstacles and abilities are added as you progress through the game. These abilities include a double jump, a dash, and platforms that can form with your hat on or off. The obstacles are your typical platforming fair including spikes and enemies that move in a specific path. You can’t defeat said enemies, though. You have to find ways to get around them using your abilities.

If this sounds not too complicated, you’re right! But that’s where I argue Hatup’s strength lies. This is a perfect platforming game for beginners. It’s not too complicated to frustrate players, but just challenging enough to offer some strategy and reward. It’s fantastic for people intimidated by the genre to dip their feet in and learn the basics. And as a fan of platformers, I champion any game like this.

What is the best console to get Hatup on?

Something I get asked about smaller games like Hatup is about the systems it’s released on. Is there one system that’s better than the others? Can it perform better on one console than the other? Or does it not matter? In Hatup’s case, it does not matter. It’s a very simple game that runs efficiently on every system.

That said, if I had a preference, it would be the Switch. This is a fantastic little puzzle platformer to play on the go. And it runs the same in docked and Un-docked modes on the Nintendo hybrid handheld. The PlayStation and Xbox versions run the same. But that portability gives the Switch version the edge. 

Final Thoughts

Hatup is not a deep game. Nor is it an extremely difficult one. It’s a puzzle platformer that’s short, sweet, and to the point with its goals. And it hits every one of them to make an entertaining game that offers some challenge but not enough to frustrate players. 

At only $5, it’s an excellent beginner title for anyone wishing to try their hand at more platforming games. I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who wishes to show others or start trying to get better at platforming games themselves. Now excuse me while I go start timing myself speedrun-wise.

Hatup is available now on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. 

Review code generously provided by eastasiasoft.