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Punch Club
Punch Club
from Wikipedia

Punch Club
DeveloperLazy Bear Games
PublishertinyBuild
EngineUnity
Platforms
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows, OS X, Linux
  • WW: January 8, 2016[1]
iOS
  • WW: January 14, 2016
Android
  • WW: January 28, 2016
Nintendo 3DS
  • NA: January 19, 2017
  • EU: February 2, 2017
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • WW: March 31, 2017
Nintendo Switch
  • WW: May 24, 2018
GenreSporting management simulation
ModeSingle-player

Punch Club (originally titled VHS Story) is a sporting management simulation developed by Lazy Bear Games and published by tinyBuild. In the game, the player manages an upcoming boxer in training and preparation for a series of boxing matches at a local club, while searching for clues of who killed their father. The game was developed as a humorous take on action films of the 1980s and 1990s. The game was released in January 2016 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android, following a Twitch Plays Pokémon-style event on Twitch. A Nintendo 3DS port of the game was announced in a September 2016 Nintendo Direct for release in January 2017 after some delays.[2] Ports for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released on March 31, 2017. A Nintendo Switch version was released on May 24, 2018. A sequel, titled Punch Club 2: Fast Forward, was released on July 20, 2023.

Gameplay

[edit]

The player controls an unnamed boxer whose father, who helped to train him, was murdered. The boxer aims to continue his training and become the best boxer at a local league, while following clues to lead him to who killed his father. The player manages the boxer around the clock through various locations in a city, including his home, the boxing gym, stores, and his work place. Time progresses when the player is involved in any activity, including moving between these locations.

The boxer character has three primary attributes that contribute towards his skill in boxing and how other boxers are compared: strength, agility, and stamina. These attributes start at one but can be increased by performing various activities, such as exercising or going to work. However, performing these activities will wear away at other attributes, including hunger, alertness, and happiness, and if these attributes are too low, some activities may not be available. These lesser attributes can be regained through eating, sleeping, and other events, though the main boxing attributes will slowly degrade with game time. The boxer will gain friends or other associates over the course of the game which will help also lead the character towards resolving the mystery of his father's murder, perform new activities to help raise the primary attributes, or aid in boosting the lesser attributes. Further, many activities require in-game money, which the player earns through performing work or by winning boxing matches. Thus, the player must determine how to balance the character's activities with the limited in-game time to maintain sufficiently high boxing attributes as to advance up in the boxing ranks. The game has a quest system, but many quests are optional.[3] The game has several possible endings, depending on choices players make.

When the player opts to send the character into a fight, or when the character is forced to fight, the game then allows the player to equip the boxer with a limited number of boxing skills that they have learned to that point including punches, kicks, and blocks; these skills can be swapped out between boxing rounds and these kicks and punches crushes enemy stamina and help occupy a limited number of slots, which brings in a smart, simple and strategic layer to Punch Club.[4] Opponents will also have a similar set of skills, which the player can examine between rounds. Some skills require the player to have a high enough primary attribute to be used, while the effect of others is based on the value of these attributes. Once the player has selected these skills, the round is executed automatically by the computer during the next round. The moves for each fighter during the round are randomly drawn from those selected. The goal is to reduce the health of the opponent to zero before the boxer's is reduced, or before twenty rounds are completed, in which a decision is made by the game as to who won the match. New skills are gained as the player completes more of the game, making them a more adept fighter.

The game itself is written with numerous references to 80s and 90s fighting movies, including references to the Rocky films, Fight Club, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and other works.[5]

Story

[edit]

During the boxer's childhood, his father was murdered by an unidentified gunman wearing a trench coat in an alley. The orphaned boxer is adopted by a police officer named Frank until the boxer hits adulthood. While attempting to look for work, the boxer gets beaten in a street fight. Witnessing the boxer's potential, an old man named Mick approaches him and guides the boxer into training at a local gym owned by Silver. The boxer undergoes training and participates in a minor boxing league as well as an underground fight club. While participating in the matches, the man in the trench coat, identified as "the man in black" was briefly seen by the boxer. The owner of the underground fight club explains to the boxer that the man in black is looking for the best fighters to compete in a tournament on a remote island. Depending on the player's actions, the boxer can follow one of the two paths: One is to participate in a boxing championship tournament to gain a professional fighting card, or to fully complete the underground fighting circuit in order to curry favor for a local crime boss named Don.

The story diverges based on the player's choices. If the boxer completed the championship, the boxer sustains an injury, prompting fellow competitor Roy Jackson to fight in the boxer's place. However, Roy is killed while fighting a Russian fighter, prompting the boxer to fight in Russia after recovering. If the boxer completed the underground ring, he is incarcerated after a failed black market deal, and fights for his release after participating in prison fights. Regardless of the path taken, the player learns from a friend of Mick's that the boxer's father was in possession of a medallion, and that the father had split it into two halves with disastrous consequences. During the night of the father's murder, one of the father's friends is accused of committing the murder and imprisoned despite coming across the father's dead body.

Shortly after completing the fight in Russia or the prison, the boxer builds up his reputation as a fighter by either working under Din Kong as a professional boxer, or as an enforcer for Don's criminal organization. Shortly after beating the champions of the respective path, the boxer is invited to the man in black's island, with the final fighter determined by the boxer's chosen path. If the professional fighter route is taken, the boxer fights the underground fight club owner, revealed to be the boxer's brother. If working under Don's wing was taken, the boxer fights a blue-colored ninja (as a reference to Sub-Zero). Shortly after beating the final fighter, the man in black reveals himself to be the boxer's father as the game ends.

Development

[edit]

Punch Club was initially developed by the Russia-based, three-person Lazy Bear Studios under the name VHS Story, which stood for Video Hero Super Story.[3] Sviatoslav Cherkasov, one of the developers, said that their whole team, in 2015, were around thirty years old, and had grown up around Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis titles, cartoons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and action movies of the 80s and 90s distributed at that time on VHS tapes from stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.[3] As fans of strategy games, they sought to combine these features, coming up with what they considered to be a Street Fighter manager, inspired by the story of the Rocky movies.[3]

For the fighting portion of the game, the studio found that having the player lack direct control of their boxer fit well with their tycoon game. The selection of moves made it similar to the strategy required for collectible card games, giving the player ways to adjust their strategy based on how well their boxer matched with a competitor even during the course of a fight.[3] Further, as the player lacked interaction during the boxing rounds, the player will be able to watch the fight, which they believed was more entertaining.[3] For the larger game, they did not want to have a story-driven title, and made most of the quests optional.[3]

The game entered its alpha release in December 2014, with original plans to release on Microsoft Windows, but with the potential for other platforms due to the cross-platform Unity engine.[3][6] To help fund the game, the developers looked to spur pre-release sales in addition to other funding sources, and used Steam's Greenlight feature to gauge interest in the game.[3] The Greenlight process in January 2015 successfully approved the game for release on Steam within five days, one of the fastest Greenlit games on the service.[7] At the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015, tinyBuild announced that they would be helping to publish the game, now titled Punch Club, for Windows and mobile platforms.[8]

To release the game, tinyBuild created an event similar to the Twitch Plays Pokémon social gaming events, in which the viewers on their Twitch channel can enter commands to control the game's character, with the mass numbers of viewers often giving conflicting commands to make for humorous events in game. The "Twitch Plays Punch Club" event was started on January 7, 2016, promising viewers that once they completed the game, they would release the title, or otherwise release the title on January 25, 2016 regardless. The viewers of the event successfully completed the game in 36 hours, and as promised, the game was officially released on January 9.[9]

In February 2016, Lazy Bear and tinyBuild announced the game had sold over 250,000 copies across all platforms, with over $2 million in revenue. As a result, they announced plans to release in March 2016 a free expansion, "The Dark Fist", along with improvements to the game, including integration with Twitch to allow players to bet virtual currency on fights which can unlock additional in-game content, and saves that work cross-platform.[10]

tinyBuild's Netherlands studio helped to port the game to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which were released on March 31, 2017.[11] It was also ported to the Nintendo Switch which was released on May 24, 2018.[12]

Reception

[edit]

Punch Club received "Mixed or Average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[19]

By March 2016, Alex Nichiporchik of tinyBuild who published Punch Club, reported that the game has sold more than 300,000 copies, but also have reported piracy of the title exceeding 1.6 million units.[20] Punch Club was one of the disputed titles in the controversy on the legitimacy of key-reselling by the online store G2A.[21]

Sequel

[edit]

In February 2023, a sequel was announced under the title Punch Club 2: Fast Forward.[22] It was released on July 20 2023 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.[22]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Punch Club is a developed by the independent studio Lazy Bear Games and published by , released on January 8, 2016, for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and . The game combines tycoon , life simulation, and elements, where players control a young protagonist seeking to join an underground fighting club to uncover the truth behind his father's . In Punch Club, gameplay revolves around time and resource management as players balance training regimens, nutrition, work, relationships, and fights to build the character's physical and mental stats across extensive skill trees. occurs in a turn-based, automated system where preparation and stat allocation determine outcomes against increasingly tough opponents, including unusual foes like crocodiles. The features multiple branching storylines influenced by player choices, leading to various endings and explorations of themes like self-discovery, set against a nostalgic 1980s-1990s aesthetic with visuals. The game has been ported to additional platforms, including , , , and , expanding its accessibility beyond PC. Developed by a small team in , , Punch Club draws inspiration from the founder's personal experiences and pop culture references, earning praise for its unique blend of simulation depth and storytelling despite some criticism for repetitive mechanics.

Gameplay and narrative

Core mechanics

In Punch Club, players take on the role of a manager guiding an unnamed young boxer through his path to , handling all aspects of his daily life and preparation outside of matches. This involves meticulous , where time, energy, and finances must be balanced to optimize growth without burnout. The game emphasizes elements, drawing players into a routine of that mirrors real-world trade-offs in pursuit of excellence. The system structures each in-game day into discrete slots, allowing the player to assign activities like exercises at the or to boost attributes such as strength (for powerful punches), (for quick dodges and strikes), and stamina (for ). Technique proficiency is developed through branching skill trees. Eating meals prevents debuffs that reduce performance, while resting recovers energy to avoid exhaustion; can lead to injuries or gradual stat decay, forcing strategic pauses, whereas neglect of like results in penalties that hinder overall progress. Side activities expand this loop, including part-time jobs such as working as a at a store or a builder on sites to generate income for essentials like and equipment. occurs via a pixel-art featuring key locations like the apartment for rest, a for specialized , and various urban spots for interactions. RPG-style elements deepen the management, with skill trees that branch based on focus—allowing specialization in brawling or paths—and item collection, such as consumable foods providing temporary buffs to attributes. Moral choices arise in optional quests from non-player characters (NPCs), influencing relationships, unlocking new opportunities or branches in progression, and adding layers of consequence to the simulation. Quest design and humor incorporate inspirations from 1980s and 1990s action films and pop culture, infusing everyday management with satirical nods to tropes from movies like and Bloodsport, enhancing the thematic immersion without overshadowing the core loop.

Combat and progression

Combat in Punch Club is conducted through automated, turn-based simulations where players pre-select a sequence of moves, such as punches, blocks, or dodges, tailored to the opponent's fighting style before the bout begins. The outcomes of these fights are determined primarily by comparisons between the player's attributes and those of the opponent, with no real-time input during the match itself; higher strength increases damage output, agility improves hit accuracy and dodge chances, and stamina governs energy regeneration to sustain prolonged engagements. Each fight depletes the player's overall stamina, necessitating periods of rest or training recovery to avoid penalties in subsequent bouts. Player progression in combat revolves around advancing through structured leagues, beginning with amateur rookie matches at local gyms and escalating to professional circuits or underground fighting rings based on accumulated wins. Success in these leagues unlocks higher-tier opponents and rewards, but requires strategic preparation, as defeats can stall advancement and reduce stats if not managed properly. Victories grant skill points, which are invested in branching skill trees to unlock advanced abilities and perks, enhancing effectiveness over time. Stat growth occurs via dedicated training mini-games, such as punching bags to build strength or speed bags for , which incrementally raise attribute levels but demand consistent effort to counteract natural decay from inactivity or overexertion. Over-specialization in one attribute, like prioritizing high strength at the expense of , creates exploitable weaknesses, such as reduced accuracy leading to predictable and ineffective assaults against evasive foes. Balanced development across strength, , and stamina is thus essential for versatile performance across diverse opponent styles. Players can acquire like specialized gloves or from vendors or quest rewards, providing attribute bonuses such as increased or defensive resilience during fights. Perks, unlocked via skill points earned from fights and side quests, offer passive enhancements like stat maintenance or energy efficiency, further customizing the fighter's capabilities. The game features multiple career paths diverging from initial league choices: pursuing the professional boxing circuit emphasizes fame, sponsorships, and structured tournaments, while delving into yields quick cash through riskier, impromptu brawls in back alleys or bars. These paths influence not only combat opportunities but also long-term progression, with professional routes offering stable advancement and underground ones enabling faster but more volatile gains.

Story and endings

The story of Punch Club centers on an unnamed young who witnesses the brutal murder of his father, a skilled martial artist, at the hands of a mysterious gunman in a , setting him on a path of vengeance in a gritty urban world. With his mother raising him after the murder, the protagonist must navigate survival through odd jobs, training regimens under various coaches, and underground fights while uncovering clues about the killer and the powerful organization behind the crime. The narrative draws heavy inspiration from and action films, incorporating tropes from —such as the underdog's rise to fame—and kung fu cinema, evident in dialogues, training montages, and character archetypes like wise mentors, shady promoters, and fierce rivals. Key narrative arcs revolve around investigating scattered clues via side quests and interactions with a cast of quirky characters, including a supportive mother figure and various allies or antagonists who offer guidance, challenges, or temptations. These encounters drive moral decisions that shape alliances and diverge the story into legitimate paths of glory or the criminal , emphasizing themes of perseverance, the struggle for work-life balance amid daily routines, and the personal costs of ambition. The non-linear encourages replayability, as players explore different quest lines and choices that affect relationships and plot progression, blending humor with dramatic tension in a revenge-driven plot. The game features multiple endings, at least four in total, determined by the protagonist's accumulated reputation, skill specializations, and key decisions throughout the journey. These conclusions range from triumphant victories and direct confrontations with the killer—revealed as "the man in black" connected to the father's enigmatic past—to tragic failures such as , , or unfulfilled vengeance, highlighting the consequences of prioritizing over personal growth or vice versa.

Development and release

Concept and production

Punch Club originated as a management simulation titled VHS Story, conceived as a tribute to and action movies, , and films such as , featuring styled to mimic the grainy aesthetics of retro tapes. The game's core idea emphasized indirect control over combat through training and , drawing from the era's pop culture , including references to arcade fighting games, cartoons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and VHS-era blockbusters starring , , and . This concept aimed to blend tycoon-style progression with RPG elements in a non-linear about avenging a family member's death. The game was developed by Lazy Bear Games, a Russian indie studio founded in 2010 in by Nikita Kulaga and Sviatoslav Cherkasov, initially as a project under the name Game Jam Studio before rebranding in 2015. Kulaga handled core programming, game design, and scripting, while artist Alexander contributed the and Sviatoslav Cherkasov (Slava) managed additional programming and sound engineering, forming a small team without external funding. Built using the Unity engine to enable cross-platform compatibility from the outset, the development focused on solo-coded mechanics for the core simulation loop, supplemented by collaborative art and audio assets. Development began in early as a and spanned over two years, with beta testing conducted before the full release in , with the addressing mid-project stagnation and last-minute balancing adjustments that delayed the launch from late 2015. Key challenges included fine-tuning the automated combat system to ensure strategic depth without real-time inputs and optimizing for mobile devices to support one-handed play. Publisher partnered early at the prototype stage, managing global marketing, community outreach via wishlists, and subsequent porting efforts, allowing the indie to iterate based on player feedback without a large budget. Design priorities centered on replayability through branching story paths and multiple endings, infused with humor from ironic pop references, while deliberately avoiding real-time action to emphasize thoughtful in fighter progression and . The pixel art style was selected to evoke the target era's low-fi charm, enhancing the nostalgic management sim experience.

Release platforms and dates

Punch Club was initially released on January 8, 2016, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and through . The mobile versions followed shortly after, with the iOS port launching on January 14, 2016, and the Android version on January 28, 2016. Console ports expanded the game's availability in subsequent years. The version debuted in on January 19, 2017, and in on February 2, 2017. Ports for and were released worldwide on March 31, 2017. The version arrived on May 24, 2018. Publisher oversaw the adaptations for consoles and mobile devices, ensuring compatibility with platform-specific features such as touch controls for and Android versions and support for the port. These ports retained the core content without major alterations, though performance optimizations were implemented for handheld systems like the and Switch. The standard digital edition launched at a price of $9.99 across platforms. A Complete Edition, bundling the base game with and digital artbook, was made available on storefronts including GOG, which hosted the game from its initial PC release on January 8, 2016. The game features English as the primary language for , with and text localization in multiple languages, including Russian, French, and Spanish.
PlatformRelease DateRegion
Windows, OS X, (Steam)January 8, 2016Worldwide
iOSJanuary 14, 2016Worldwide
AndroidJanuary 28, 2016Worldwide
January 19, 2017North America
February 2, 2017
, March 31, 2017Worldwide
May 24, 2018Worldwide

Reception and legacy

Critical reviews

Punch Club received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, with the PC version earning a score of 73/100 based on 30 reviews. User scores hovered around 7.0/10 across platforms, reflecting moderate appreciation from players. Console ports fared similarly, with the version at 76/100 based on five reviews, the edition at 62/100, and the version receiving comparable user feedback. Critics praised the game's addictive management loop, where players balance training, work, and relationships to build their fighter, often comparing it to a blend of life simulation and RPG elements. Outlets highlighted its humor, drawn from pop culture references like and kung fu films, adding charm and replayability through multiple paths and endings. noted the retro and strategic depth in stat-building as strengths, evoking nostalgic appeal despite its simplicity. Pocket Gamer awarded it 9/10, commending the mobile version's accessibility and lighthearted tone that made short sessions engaging. However, common criticisms centered on the automated combat system, which left players as passive observers during fights, reducing satisfaction and tension. Reviewers frequently pointed to balance issues, including excessive grinding for stats and sudden difficulty spikes that frustrated progression. The story was often described as clichéd, relying on familiar tropes without much innovation, though its brevity was seen as a mercy amid the repetition. IGN scored it 6.5/10, faulting the lack of control in battles and late-game burnout from monotonous tasks. Coverage evolved from early 2016 PC launches, where reviews emphasized the core loop's novelty but flagged grind, to later console ports in 2017–2018, which generally noted improved controls and performance, enhancing portability without altering the mixed reception.

Commercial performance and controversies

Punch Club achieved strong initial commercial success following its January 2016 release on PC, with publisher tinyBuild reporting over 300,000 legitimate copies sold across PC and mobile platforms by March 2016. By February 2016, the game had generated more than $2 million in revenue across PC, iOS, and Android, boosted significantly by viral marketing events like Twitch Plays Punch Club and frequent Steam discounts. The game's launch saw robust Steam engagement, peaking at over 4,300 concurrent players shortly after release, reflecting high visibility driven by positive critical reception. Mobile versions, released concurrently, contributed around 100,000 additional downloads, though in-app purchases generated minimal revenue compared to upfront sales. Despite commercial gains, Punch Club faced substantial piracy challenges, with developers reporting approximately 1.6 million unauthorized downloads in the first few months—over five times the legitimate at that point—including 1.1 million on PC/Mac/ and 514,000 on mobile devices, predominantly Android. CEO Alex Nichiporchik publicly highlighted these figures to raise awareness about 's revenue impact on indie developers, while noting potential exposure benefits in regions with high download rates, such as where piracy exceeded 97%. The company expressed a measured tolerance, focusing on analytics to track trends rather than aggressive enforcement, as the visibility helped sustain long-term interest. A notable controversy arose in June 2016 when tinyBuild discovered that G2A, a third-party key reseller, had sold 1,251 fraudulent Punch Club keys obtained via stolen Russian credit cards, resulting in over $10,900 in chargebacks and refunds that the publisher had to cover. This incident, part of a broader $450,000 loss across tinyBuild's portfolio, sparked a public feud with G2A, which refused compensation and demanded a list of suspicious keys without offering verification support. TinyBuild blacklisted G2A, publicly accused the platform of enabling fraud, and contributed to wider industry debates on the ethics of grey-market resellers, influencing policies from other developers. Post-2018, Punch Club received no major updates or official DLC, relying instead on periodic discounts for sustained sales, with the original content remaining unchanged after the 2016 free "Dark Fist" expansion.

Sequel: Punch Club 2: Fast Forward

Punch Club 2: Fast Forward is the sequel to the fighter management simulation, developed by Lazy Bear Games and published by tinyBuild. The game was announced on February 17, 2023, during a reveal trailer that highlighted its shift to a futuristic setting. It launched on July 20, 2023, initially for Microsoft Windows via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. Mobile versions followed later, with iOS releasing on August 22, 2024, and Android becoming available shortly thereafter. The sequel builds on the original's management simulation foundation by relocating the narrative to a world filled with neon-lit streets and advanced technology, where players guide a fighter through leagues involving cybernetic enhancements and battles against AI-driven opponents. This thematic evolution introduces elements like customizable tech upgrades and deeper personalization options for the protagonist's abilities and appearance, while maintaining core routines of training, resource management, and strategic decision-making. The story emphasizes player choice in career paths, from underground fighting to corporate intrigue, enhancing replayability through branching outcomes. Punch Club 2: Fast Forward received mixed or average reviews, with scores ranging from 62/100 to 77/100 across platforms. Critics praised the expanded world-building, improved animations, and deeper customization compared to the original, but criticized repetitive grinding, unbalanced difficulty, and occasional technical issues on consoles. User reception on was very positive, with an 89% approval rating from over 1,100 reviews as of 2025. On July 22, 2024, the Iron Fist expansion was released as , requiring the base game and priced at $9.99. This DLC expands the universe with a new storyline centered on restoring an old for the Robotic League, introducing customization via a dedicated tech tree featuring unique attacks, defenses, and modifiers. It adds nanomachine injection mechanics for performance boosts, additional combat modes, and a narrative arc uncovering a mysterious AI threat. The game supports cross-progression on consoles through standard cloud saves, though mobile versions operate independently. The Complete Edition, available on PC and consoles, bundles the base game with the Iron Fist DLC, while a separate DLC is offered for $9.99. Mobile ports are optimized for touch controls on and Android, with controller support enabled for enhanced play on compatible devices. Development utilized the Unity engine, allowing for efficient cross-platform deployment and visual updates to match the cyberpunk aesthetic. The project involved a collaborative effort from Lazy Bear Games, incorporating post-launch updates to refine combat interactivity and story branching based on community input.

References

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