The most random game ever created, now in subreddit form! Created Feb 8, 2014. Top posts july 18th 2020 Top posts of july. Jazzpunk is a surreal 2014 PC puzzle stealth espionage exploration thingamajig that couldn't possibly have been designed by somebody with a sane mind. Best time: Single-segment 0:17:46 by Etienne 'EthanWolfcat' Taschereau on 2014-04-02.
Jazzpunk is a single-player, first-person adventure game, focusing on exploration and comedy over puzzle-solving. Each mission has one central objective, but the player is free to explore the game world at their own pace, which is populated with a large number of interactive NPCs, each with their own action or gag. Mini-games, including mini-golf, a Frogger clone, and a version of Duck Hunt in which the player pelts cardboard ducks with slices of bread from a toaster, also feature prominently in the game's storyline.
Sort by
on
Jazzpunk Walkthrough
Jazzpunk
Have you ever woken up and recalled that you had a few different weird dreams all in the same night of sleep? That's basically what playing this game is like. It's a short, totally batshit experience that I couldn't put down. Just one four hour sitting of absurd and hilarious things happening in front of me. Though it actually does feel like it drags at one point and there isn't much to it as far as gameplay I would say it's worth checking out for sure if you're into some weird.
on
BACKER
on
If you like silly weirdo humor, this is the game for you. It's the game for me!
on
on
EUREKA!
Jazzpunk is a joyous, comedic ode to history: of games, of music, of film, of comedy, of civilization. Its sleuthy Cold War setting clashes with a cartoonish cyberpunk visage, which recalls Gravity Bone by way of the Marx Brothers. However, what could have been an exercise in political satire instead proves a masterpiece of subversive pop.
Whereas The Stanley Parable (a game similarly determined to think one step ahead of the player at every turn) proves a one-note, self-congratulatory farce, Jazzpunk is a walking sim which delights in the beauty of the mundane, exaggerating every trope and archetype it borrows from various media to create an endlessly delightful and unique vision. It is a game of juxtapositions; a genuinely artistic artifact which bridges the past and the future, music and movement, Lifelessness and stimulus. It's a game that strives to make the player laugh, whenever possible. A game where the player can't walk five feet without seeing another wild but clever gag. One's face is sure to hurt by the time the credits roll -- I wore a smile the whole way through.
Jazz and punk are two definitive American music genres, both at the forefront of their prospective eras; artists reconfigure the rules of songwriting in nearly antithetical ways. Jazz thrives on technical improvisation; punk strips a band down to its bare essentials and speaks in rudimentary rhymes. Jazzpunk, the game, proves sophisticated and joyously straightforward in its intentions, a true rarity within a medium gradually growing defined by technical and dramatic progress.
The basic spy caper plotting allows the developers at Necrophone Games to toss as many ideas into the pot as possible (notice the word 'pun' is right there in the title), filling each of the handful of maps with a bevy of content to peruse. The game is at its worst when relying on random, goofy dialogue interactions to pass the time; but at its best when spontaneous film references and inspired content transport the player through a simulated archive of historic video game influences. This is self-aware humor done right: not condescending, not bloated, but placed on an even playing field with the audience, in order to subsequently serve as a sort of commentary on the medium at large, whether intentional or not.
From 'retiring' a group of 'Realplicants,' to aiding a gang of cyberpunk femmes in a bank robbery with a snot-gun; from entering the wrestling ring with a polygonal Randy Savage-clone, to entering cyberspace after being drugged and kidnapped by the self-proclaimed antagonists; Jazzpunk never stops surprising, all the way through to its reptilian, gastrointestinal finale, capping off a sequence in which the bad guy is thwarted by his own inflated ego (a fitting response to the Davey Wredens and Neil Druckmanns of the games industry). When times are tough, make 'em laugh.
Jazzpunk is a surreal 2014 PC puzzle stealth espionage exploration thingamajig that couldn't possibly have been designed by somebody with a sane mind.
Best time: Single-segment 0:17:46 by Etienne 'EthanWolfcat' Taschereau on 2014-04-02.
Get Flash to see this player.
Author's comments:
Jazzpunk 2
This is my second single-segment speedrun I post here on SDA. This time, it's on the game JazzPunk for PC. The game is pretty straight forward. Just do the main task and you're done.
A few minor mistakes were made in this run so it isn't perfect. There is a few RNG stuff in this game that can influence the outcome of the run. The game contains a lot of bugs which makes it hard to make a good speedrun. For example, at the beginning of the hotel level, If you hold any button during the
Loading screen, there is a high chance that the screen will stay black. But a few of the bugs could help to have a better time. I take, for example, the elevator in the hotel. If you stuck yourself correctly in the door, when the elevator starts moving up, you will be teleported to the floor you have selected. But it happens in really rare occasions. Another solution to save time is to select a floor than select the 4th floor immediately after.
The gravy race is also another part where the outcome is almost always different. Controls are difficult to handle and obstacles are randomly placed on the track. A real trolling part. I could save about 2-4 seconds if all went well.
Jazzpunk Switch
I did not too bad on the golf course. It could have gone better than this. Searching for an invisible ball after doing the turn skip glitch is a bit difficult.
I would like to thank SDA for hosting my second speedrun. Enjoy everybody!
Jazzpunk Characters
Return to the Game List, the FAQ, or the Home Page.