Only Up!
Cover art depicting a boy with a blue hat looking towards a distant, tall structure. There are big, yellow letters in all caps saying "Only Up!".
Developer(s)SCKR Games
Publisher(s)SCKR Games
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform(s)Windows
ReleaseMay 24, 2023
Genre(s)Platformer
Mode(s)Single-player

Only Up! is a 2023 platformer game developed and published by SCKR Games. It was released on Steam on May 24, 2023, and permanently removed in September of that year following controversy over the use of copyrighted assets. Players control the character Jackie and must reach the moon through a series of obstacles consisting of real-life items.

Only Up! was praised for its difficulty but criticized for its graphics and level design. It was compared to difficult climbing games such as Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Only Up! became one of the most popular games on Twitch shortly after its release and was nominated for the first Vtuber Awards.

Gameplay

A boy walks in smoke and enters a dirty elevator.
The game begins with the character in a junkyard.

Only Up! begins in a junkyard, where the player character, Jackie, must run, climb, jump, and vault through assorted objects and platforms. Around the map, there are beds the player can use as trampolines to skip portions of the obstacle course. The player must reach the top of the map to win the game and may slow down time to control Jackie's movements.[1][2] There are no checkpoints, and the player cannot save their progress.[3]

Release

Only Up! was created by the solo developer SCKR Games and released via Steam on May 24, 2023.[4] It was partly inspired by the folktale "Jack and the Beanstalk".[3][5] On June 15, 2023, SCKR Games updated the game to add camera controls like switching between first- and third-person perspectives and centering the camera. The update was criticized for removing "all the fun of watching streamers suffer".[6]

Removal from Steam

Only Up! was removed from Steam on June 30, 2023, after numerous assets in the game were found to be copyright violations.[7] This notably included "Blanket in the Wind" by Aboulicious, a 3D model of a girl released under a non-commercial license.[7][8] The game additionally contained sound effects from Final Fantasy VII and Minecraft. SCKR Games consequently removed all copyrighted material and relaunched Only Up! on July 1.[9] They also contacted Aboulicious for the creation of a replacement of their model.[4][10]

On September 7, 2023, SCKR Games removed Only Up! from Steam permanently, citing stress.[4][11] They said they needed "peace of mind and healing" and sought to move on from the game.[2] Additionally, SCKR Games announced Kith as their next game, saying it would be vastly different from Only Up!.[12]

Promotions of non-fungible tokens

Blockchain games that buy and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) had been banned from Steam since October 2021.[13] Only Up! placed images from the Goblintown NFT series on the player character's shirt and as one of the masks found in the starting area.[9][14] The NFT series later sold clothing based on the game.[14] As Truth Labs had released Goblintown under a Creative Commons 0 license, which allows for commercial use, it is unknown whether SCKR Games had partnered with Truth Labs.[15]

Reception

Initial reception

Only Up! garnered popularity shortly after its release. By late June of 2023, it was among the most popular games on Twitch, a video game livestreaming service, at 85,000 total viewers.[16][17] Livestreamers and speedrunners shared themselves rage quitting after falling down and losing progress from the absence of a save system.[16][18]

Critical reception

Many reviewers felt that Only Up!'s gameplay was stressful—which is what made the game go viral[16]—and that it was similar to the platform game Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy.[19][20][21] Ayuo Kawase of Automaton Media praised the "high feeling of tension" players felt while in the game.[1] Writing for TechRadar, Elie Gould believed that Only Up! could give the player "a slight adrenaline boost" with the thought that they could lose their progress by making a simple mistake.[19] Ben Lyons of Gamereactor noted the lack of checkpoints and wrote that players must figure out a way to navigate obstacles without falling.[20] Dexerto's Rishabh Sabarwal summarized the "captivating" gameplay, writing that the player, when close to winning, could fall at any moment, thus losing significant progress.[21]

Most critics felt that the graphics of Only Up! were poorly constructed. Christian Harrison of Try Hard Guides, Gould, and Lyons felt that the obstacles and overall design were not polished.[19][20][22] Lyons and Sabarwal stated that the hidden Easter eggs in each section could surprise the player.[20][21] Although Kawase wrote that Only Up! was "poorly optimized",[1] Harrison noted that the game's graphics settings were set to their maximum.[22] Harrison considered it a "rushed cash grab".[22] Gould, Lyons, and Sabarwal expressed similar sentiments and felt that Only Up! was not unique.[19][20][21]

Accolades

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2023 The Vtuber Awards Stream Game of The Year Nominated [23]

OnlyUp Fortnite

OnlyUp Fortnite is a custom Fortnite map created by a user known as ARMY. The adaptation shares most gameplay aspects with its predecessor while adding Fortnite references.[24] With eight times the player count of the original Only Up!, the Fortnite version had over 100,000 players in early July 2023.[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kawase, Ayuo (June 15, 2023). "Frustrating climbing game Only Up! grows popular among Japanese streamers". Automaton Media. Translated by Marco Farinaccia. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Shanklin, Will (September 8, 2023). "Viral indie game Only Up! delisted from Steam". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Jarvis, Matt (June 26, 2023). "Only Up, a 3D Getting Over It-a-like inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk, is the latest indie sensation to blow up on Twitch". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 8, 2023). "Viral Hit Only Up! Pulled From Steam by Creator Due to 'Stress'". IGN. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  5. ↑ Fischer, Tyler (June 30, 2023). "Only Up! Back on Steam After Being Mysteriously Removed". ComicBook. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  6. ↑ Vjestica, Amber (June 19, 2023). "Only up! update makes game less maddening. But why are users protesting?". Automaton Media. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Shepard, Kenneth (July 3, 2023). "Only Up! Pulled From Steam After Becoming a Twitch Sensation". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Blanket In The Wind". Sketchfab. November 29, 2016. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Wilde, Tyler (July 1, 2023). "Only Up! pulled from Steam, developer says it'll be back (update: and now it is back)". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Elevator for restoring progress/ anime girl coming back soon/ Copyright". Steam. July 4, 2023. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  11. ↑ Gach, Ethan (September 8, 2023). "Twitch Sensation Only Up! Removed From Steam So Dev Can Find 'Peace Of Mind And Healing'". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  12. ↑ Jarvis, Matt (September 8, 2023). "Only Up dev yanks Twitch hit from Steam after saying it caused 'a lot of stress'". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  13. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (October 16, 2021). "Valve bans blockchain, crypto and NFT games from Steam, but Epic is on-board". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Chalk, Andy (June 21, 2023). "Twitch's new sensation is a weird indie climbing game that's also quietly promoting NFTs". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  15. ↑ Hayward, Andrew (June 15, 2023). "Twitch's New Favorite Game Only Up Is Loaded With Goblintown NFT Art". Decrypt. Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 Marshall, Cass (June 26, 2023). "What is Only Up!, the climbing game blowing up on social media?". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  17. ↑ Ostler, Anne-Marie (June 27, 2023). "This punishing climbing game is Twitch's latest masochist craze". GamesRadar+. Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  18. ↑ Brusie, Chaunie (June 30, 2023). "What is Only Up? Frustrating Climbing Game is Causing Twitch Streamers to 'Rage Quit'". In The Know. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Gould, Elie (July 14, 2023). "Only Up! Is a terrifying endeavor that left me dizzy, sick, and wanting more". TechRadar. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Lyons, Ben (July 13, 2023). "Only Up!". Gamereactor. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Sabarwal, Rishabh (June 29, 2023). "Only Up! review: The ultimate test of your patience". Dexerto. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  22. 1 2 3 Harrison, Christian (June 30, 2023). "Only Up! review – The journey of 10,000 steps". Try Hard Guides. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Nominees". The Vtuber Awards. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  24. ↑ Ganguly, Sharmila (June 23, 2023). "Fortnite Only Up map code: How to play the viral hit in Fortnite?". Dot eSports. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  25. ↑ Zwiezen, Zack (July 7, 2023). "Fortnite's Only Up! User Map Is Now Way Bigger Than the Original Game". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
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