GoNNER

GoNNER is a 2D side-scrolling platformer with roguelike elements, featuring procedurally generated levels, permadeath, and customizable loadouts. Players control Ikk, a small blob, navigating fantasy-themed levels filled with enemies, bosses, and hidden secrets. The game emphasizes fast-paced combat and exploration, with no instructions provided, leaving players to discover mechanics through gameplay.

GoNNER: Review

Introduction

In the crowded landscape of indie roguelikes, few games manage to be as visually arresting, mechanically punishing, and thematically resonant as GoNNER. Released in 2016 by Swedish developer Art in Heart and publisher Raw Fury, this 2D side-scrolling platformer distinguishes itself through its stark, minimalist aesthetic, relentless difficulty, and surprisingly poignant narrative about friendship and mortality. At first glance, it appears as a chaotic blob of neon and darkness, but beneath its deceptively simple exterior lies a meticulously crafted experience that challenges players to find beauty in failure and meaning in loss. This review will dissect GoNNER‘s unique place in gaming history, examining its origins, narrative depth, innovative mechanics, artistic vision, and enduring legacy. Ultimately, GoNNER stands as a testament to how indie games can blend punishing gameplay with profound emotional storytelling, creating an experience that is both a masterclass in design and a haunting allegory for the human condition.

Development History & Context

GoNNER emerged from the Stockholm-based studio Art in Heart, founded by programmer and designer Mattias “Ditto” Dittrich, alongside Martin Mathiesen Kvale and Joar Renolen. The game’s development was famously organic, described by Dittrich as “the least planned thing I’ve ever done.” The core mechanic of losing and retrieving one’s head—a literalization of the permadeath trope—emerged serendipitously. “I was like, oh shit, that’s really cool. What if the head is an item that you can pick up and use for stuff?” Dittrich recalled, leading to a “snowball effect” where weapons, equipment, and abilities became modular, interchangeable components. This improvisational approach allowed the team to craft a system where death was not just a punishment but a central gameplay loop, fostering iterative mastery.

Technologically, GoNNER leveraged the Unity engine, enabling the team to achieve its distinctive visual style without prohibitive overhead. The 2016 release occurred during a peak for indie roguelikes, with titles like Enter the Gungeon and Spelunky 2 dominating the scene. Yet GoNNER carved its niche by emphasizing brevity and intensity. It debuted on Windows, macOS, and Linux via Steam and GOG.com, later expanding to Nintendo Switch (2017), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One (2018). Its presence at PAX East 2016 garnered significant buzz, with Jed Whitaker of Destructoid calling it “hands down my favorite game” at the show. Raw Fury, known for publishing titles like Kingdom: New Lands, championed GoNNER as a title that embodied their ethos of supporting bold, experimental projects. This collaborative environment allowed Art in Heart to refine a vision that was both commercially viable and artistically uncompromising.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

At its heart, GoNNER tells the story of Ikk, a small, amorphous protagonist on a quixotic quest to “cheer up his only friend in this world—a giant landbound whale named Sally” by finding the perfect trinket in dark, hostile realms. The narrative unfolds through environmental storytelling and minimal dialogue, with Death serving as a cryptic mentor who arms Ikk for his journey. Yet the game’s true depth lies in its thematic ambiguity, inviting multiple interpretations. Some players see it as a Greek tragedy: Ikk’s futile battle against fate to save Sally (who may already be dead) mirrors hubris and inevitable despair. The ending, where Ikk kills Death and dons her mask at the base of a tree—reminiscent of the game’s opening—suggests a cycle of loss and rebirth, with Ikk ultimately becoming Death himself.

The relationship between Ikk and Sally is central. Sally, a melancholic creature shrinking as the game progresses, symbolizes unreachable grief or the transience of joy. Her role as a landbound whale—an impossible, immovable object—underscores the theme of helplessness. Meanwhile, Death’s friendly demeanor contrasts with her grim function, implying a shared understanding of futility. “Perhaps just like you, she tried to fight fate and ended up only contributing to the cycle,” one player theorized, highlighting the game’s exploration of acceptance. Crude humor and fantasy violence (rated E10+) temper the darkness, but the core themes resonate with pathos: love as a driving force, death as an inevitability, and the bittersweet beauty of trying anyway. This layered narrative transforms repetitive runs into emotional pilgrimages, where each failure feels like a step in an allegory for perseverance.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

GoNNER’s gameplay is a masterclass in roguelike design, built around three pillars: procedural generation, permadeath, and modular customization. Players control Ikk, who can move, double-jump, and wall-jump through side-scrolling levels teeming with hostile creatures. Combat is a frantic dance: Ikk shoots enemies or jumps on them, but his health, weapon, and equipment scatter upon taking damage. Retrieving these components before a second hit is crucial, turning survival into a high-stakes retrieval game. The game’s signature mechanic—combo building—rewards aggression: chaining kills rapidly boosts the multiplier, increasing score and currency. This incentivizes risk-taking and creates a rhythmic flow, with the soundtrack intensifying to match the chaos.

Progression is twofold. Permanent unlocks (heads, weapons, equipment) persist between runs, offering passive bonuses like increased bullet size or faster shooting. Run-specific loadouts are chosen via Death before levels begin, encouraging experimentation. Heads determine health and size; weapons (shotgun, laser, machine gun) alter attack patterns; equipment (e.g., bomb rings, shot bursts) provides cooldown-based abilities. Yet GoNNER resists handholding: it provides no instructions, forcing players to discover mechanics through trial and error. This mirrors the narrative’s theme of blind determination.

Ammo management adds tension: bullets are finite, and reloading requires picking up casings from fallen enemies, creating vulnerable moments. Levels are shrouded in darkness, revealing only as Ikk approaches, heightening tension and encouraging exploration. Boss battles punctuate each of the four worlds, demanding mastery of movement and timing. While “mostly permadeath,” purple runes (dropped by enemies) allow continues or shop purchases, softening the blow without eliminating consequence. The daily challenge mode extends replayability with global leaderboards, perfect for portable play on Switch. This synergy of systems—brutal, rewarding, and deeply interconnected—makes GoNNER a benchmark for roguelike design.

World-Building, Art & Sound

GoNNER’s world is a dreamscape of surreal contrasts: pastel hues clash with stark shadows, and whimsical creatures stalk decaying landscapes. The setting feels both organic and alien, with environments ranging from fleshy caverns to skeletal forests, all unified by a “cartoon-creepy” aesthetic. Ikk’s blob form—mutable with different heads—evokes vulnerability and adaptability, while Sally’s massive, stranded whale form dominates the horizon, symbolizing isolation. Enemies are designed with grotesque charm: eyeball-studded worms, skeletal birds, and floating masks that pulse with bioluminescence. This visual dichotomy—soft shapes against harsh environments—reinforces the game’s emotional duality: hope amid despair.

Art director Niklas Åkerblad’s style is deceptively simple, using bold outlines, gradient fills, and particle effects to convey motion and impact. When Ikk lands a perfect combo, the screen erupts in neon streaks; when he dies, the palette bleeds into monochrome. This dynamism makes every action feel visceral. The sound design, by composer Joar Renolen, is equally integral. Reactive audio swells with combo chains, morphing from ambient drones to frantic percussion. Gunshots echo with satisfying weight, and enemy deaths emit wet, squelching sounds that blend grotesquerie with whimsy. The soundtrack—often described as “gorgeous”—elevates tension during boss fights and provides melancholic respite during Sally’s vignettes. Together, art and sound create an immersive atmosphere where beauty and horror coexist, turning mechanical mastery into an emotional journey. The result is a world that feels both alien and intimate, a testament to GoNNER’s unparalleled artistic cohesion.

Reception & Legacy

Upon release, GoNNER earned critical acclaim, with a Metascore of 81 (PC) and 79 (Switch). Destructoid awarded it a rare 9.5/10, calling it “a damned good game with addictive gameplay, catchy music, and a great art style.” Rock Paper Shotgun’s Adam Smith deemed it “an absolute delight,” praising its “perfect visual style” for communicating near-misses and triumphs. However, reception was polarized among players and some critics. PC Gamer noted its “lack of depth,” while Metro.co.uk felt roguelike elements “drag it down.” Complaints centered on difficulty and opacity—eShopper Reviews called it “frustrating” and “niche.” Yet many lauded its rewards: Switch Player commended the “great gameplay systems” beneath the “brutally hard” surface.

Commercially, GoNNER found success as a cult hit, particularly on Switch, where its pick-up-and-play nature resonated. Its legacy is twofold: as a design innovator and a narrative outlier. The game’s modular loadout system influenced titles like Skul: The Hero Slayer, while its fusion of high-octane combat and melancholy storytelling paved the way for games like Dead Cells and Hades. GoNNER2 (2020) built on this foundation, refining its formula. Critically, it is remembered for proving that depth could thrive in brevity—a run lasts minutes, yet mastery takes hours. It also fostered a community of theorists dissecting its themes, with Steam forums buzzing over interpretations of Ikk’s journey. In an era of ever-expanding games, GoNNER’s compact, potent experience remains a landmark, demonstrating how constraints can breed creativity.

Conclusion

GoNNER is far more than a “shooter version of Spelunky“; it is a symphony of design and emotion, where every death is a story, and every victory feels hard-won. Its organic development—born from a single “what if”—resulted in a game that is both mechanically brilliant and thematically rich. Art in Heart’s refusal to compromise on vision created an experience that challenges players while rewarding their perseverance with profound insights on love, loss, and acceptance. While its difficulty and opacity may alienate some, those who persevere discover a masterpiece of indie design: a roguelike that transcends its genre to become a meditation on mortality.

In the pantheon of video games, GoNNER occupies a unique space—a pixelated Greek tragedy wrapped in neon and sound. It stands as a testament to the power of small teams and bold ideas, proving that the most memorable games are not necessarily the longest or loudest, but those that linger in the mind long after the final boss falls. For its artistry, innovation, and emotional resonance, GoNNER deserves its place as a modern classic: a game that is as beautiful in its defeat as it is in its fleeting triumphs.