Quirky media can often be a breath of fresh air. Whereas dramas and grimdark settings usually go over well with just about anyone, weird comedies like Arrested Development can break the mold and have us enjoy something we never even knew we wanted. But quirk alone isn’t enough to carry every project. Sometimes, studios or developers can go overboard, and made a game so loud, so desperate for your attention that it falls on deaf ears. Despite some solid gameplay mechanics, Egz The Origin of the Universe ($1.99) suffers from some of these issues.

Right from the get-go Egz is memorable. Framed as a platformer of sorts sprawling 80 levels, you wouldn’t really know it based on the presentation. It’s bright, charming, and even funny at times, and almost always adorable.  If I had to compare it to something else, it would easily be Rayman, which its upbeat tempo and dazzling color scheme. The soundtrack is probably one of the most cheery collective of sounds I’ve ever heard on a mobile device, and the fully voiced intro, which showcases the premise (a history of life on Earth), is fun to watch. Your journey involves “Egz," the first organism (which is kind of like an egg with legs, hence, “Egz"), and its attempt to survive across a variety of different levels.

You’ll do this by swiping on any portion of the creature’s body, which can then propel it forward like a catapult. The concept is so simple that anyone could master it in minutes, but the increasingly tricky stages start to impede your easy-going progress sooner than later. To fight back players can utilize experience points to buff up their Egz, by increasing its health, jump, or damage resistance capabilities.

This system isn’t extraordinarily deep, but it gives people something to do, and effectively creates new ways to play the game. For example, players could jack up its health to make a brute force machine, capable of just flinging itself across the game with reckless abandon. Or, they could also go the jump route, which will allow them to make some tricky maneuvers so long as they don’t bump anything rough along the way. The resistance rating tends to blend together, though it can come in handy in nuanced situations, like levels with large gaps and pitfalls that prevent your character from instant death. Yep, the “egg" bit of the moniker should have tipped you off, as Egz can easily crack under pressure, so strategically plotting your jumps is key. Even though the end goal is just to get from point A to point B the vast majority of the time, things can get sticky.

There’s also a high degree of customization involved, including facial hair, leg loadouts, hats, and colors. Egz even has three minigames built into the stat screen (dancing, hazard dodging, and a jump rope exercise), which is a nice touch, even if they’re only worth trying out once for a bit. Oh, and a photo gallery too, that features a bunch of different poses. It’s all fleeting fancy for sure, but it’s that little extra bit of quirk that I mentioned above that’s appreciated, especially for players who get invested in their characters. If you’re so inclined, you can also create more characters with multiple slots.

But here’s the rub — Egz‘s novelty doesn’t really extend beyond its cute style. Most of the platforming involved is stuff you’ve seen before, and is generally done better by the rather competitive cream of the crop. That’s not to say that Egz fails in what it’s trying to do, it’s just not as memorable or special as I’d like it to be in practice. This convention is broken up a bit when bosses are in the picture, which are probably some of the game’s greatest moments. I just wish there were more out there situations like that.

For $3.99, you’d better get the whole package, and thankfully that’s just what Egz – The Origin of the Universe does. With no IAP or ad-based schemes of any kind, you’re free to unlock what you want by way of just playing and earning in-game currency, of which the game allows generously. If you’re looking for something that’s not as stressful as other platformers but still attempts to provide some semblance of a challenge, you could do a whole lot worse than Egz.