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‘Punch Club’ is like ‘Game Dev Story’ Meets Rocky with Hefty Doses of ’80s and ’90s Nostalgia

During E3 we sat down with TinyBuild to check out the latest iteration of Dungelot, but literally during that demonstration the publisher announced via a livestream a brand new game for desktop and mobile called Punch Club. Since the cat was out of the bag, we were in a prime position to get a quick demo of that game as well. You may have heard me talking it up on our podcast last week, but I was quite taken with Punch Club. The quick pitch is that it’s Game Dev Story meets Rocky with hefty doses of ’80s and ’90s pop culture references. It’s a delightfully cheesy light simulation game about coming up as a boxer and getting revenge on whoever murdered your father. Or, something like that. Cue the montage!

As mentioned, the simulation aspect really reminds me of a Kairosoft game. You’ll choose what areas of your character to improve upon, which special abilities to use, and your strategies for each fight in the game. Then when you’re all set the fight happens automatically, sort of like when you’re making a game in Game Dev Story. It’s your pre-fight strategies and the element of chance that will determine how they shake out. On top of that you’re also living the life of your character day to day, visiting new places, taking on new quests, working a job, and making sure you eat and sleep. The humor and pop-culture references are thick, and I had plenty of laugh out loud moments in the 10-ish minute demo of the game. Keep your eye out for Punch Club when it launches on Steam and mobile this fall.