Ayo the Clown

cute little simple platformer with a chill clown

Ayo the Clown is a delightful 2.5D platforming adventure developed and published by Cloud M1 that embraces the charm of classic mascot-driven games while introducing enough original ideas to stand on its own. The story revolves around Ayo, a cheerful circus clown whose faithful dog, Bo, suddenly vanishes under mysterious circumstances. Determined to bring his companion home, Ayo embarks on an adventure that carries him through imaginative environments filled with colorful inhabitants, unusual dangers, and plenty of hidden surprises. While the narrative remains simple and family-friendly, its cheerful tone and lighthearted humor provide a welcoming backdrop that suits the game's playful nature from beginning to end. The gameplay is built around traditional platforming fundamentals, but it rarely feels repetitive thanks to the steady introduction of new mechanics and environmental concepts. Every world offers its own visual identity and gameplay twists, ensuring that players are constantly adapting to fresh obstacles rather than repeating the same challenges. Responsive controls make jumping, climbing, sliding, and navigating hazards feel satisfying, while the gradual introduction o…

This is firmly "okay", which has to make it a not-recommend for me. Multiple flaws made it so I finished chapter 3 and don't really want to play it any more. It's okay but it's not really fun. It's a shame because I like when games break out little mini-games, the graphics are fine, but the flaws: 1. wireless xbox gamepad (on linux might make a difference maybe?) mostly works but X (supposed to be attack) and the two right trigger buttons (supposed to be cannon controls) don't do what they're supposed to, and some buttons go to menu that I think aren't supposed to, like there's just some misbindings there, and you can't customize your bindings. 2. the camera often lags behind or goes the wrong way - the worst case of this was a "slope slide" scene where Ayo went entirely off the bottom of the screen, so I jumped thinking maybe I wasn't supposed to be going that way, resulting in death. On replay, the camera behaved correctly, I was supposed to just keep sliding. 3. The collision box for jumping on enemies is bleh, it often thinks you touched them from the side rather than above even when that's clearly not right. You have to hit them very central. 4. The levels are too long and n…

Not good, not terrible. Levels are all seemingly unique but are way too long and not well-designed. To find all the collectibles you have to backtrack. In better platformers I could of played twice as many levels in the same 37 minutes. Controls are unusual. You have a jump and glide ability and you have to press up on the d-pad with A to use it instead of just double tapping and holding A. Good humor and good theming. Checkpoints are a pie slamming in your face. It's mediocre. There's nothing unique to the game and what it copies is just passing grades. I wish I could say different.

I expected this to be a budgety jankfest to be very honest, just based off the marketing and advertising that I saw, but I was actually very pleasantly surprised at how solid this was. Nice level designs and variety, solid movement and platforming mechanics, and very reasonable and satisfying difficulty scaling as you progress through the game. Beat the game any% in roughly 6 1/2 hours which felt like the perfect length for an experience like this. I'd love to see this studio's next project 'cause I imagine it'll be even better,

I like it.