Bubba’n’Stix started as a request from Core Design to Simon Phipps to imagine some sort of puzzle/platformer Indiana Jones game in which the main character would use a stick instead of a whip. The developer of Wolfchild and Rick Dangerous 1&2 was to team up with Billy Allison on the project. The two men met, threw ideas on a piece of paper and it became clear that a game based around puzzles that have to be solved with a stick couldn’t be too serious and Bubba’n’Stix became the colourful off-the-wall story of an escape from an alien abduction.


If only one thing should be said about the game, it is that it represents a peculiar blend of puzzle and platforming. Bubba’n’Stix isn’t a traditional platform game to which a few puzzles would have been added for variety nor a strict puzzle game in which the main character is only the medium through which the player interacts with variables. The best way I could describe it is by comparing it to Simon Phipps' previous Rick Dangerous games. These platformers were criticized for their extreme difficulty and the unfairness of the obstacles and traps that saturated their levels. There is no doubt that players were expected to simply die and retry until they knew everything they had to do and dodge by heart.

Bubba’n’Stix works in a similar fashion while alleviating some pressure from players. It’s still more about understanding and memorizing than about focusing and using one's reflexes. Half the threats and traps to be encountered will get players the first time around, but contrary to Rick Dangerous, here it will not cost them a life and a restart from earlier, just one health point.

Waldo jumps from a bush and shoots Bubba in the face in less time than it takes to say "Outch !"


Because of its inherent punishing nature, Bubba’n’Stix’ gameplay never feels as carefree as the one of the likes of Mr.Nutz, Zool or James Pond II. The game might even be considered rigid by a few players. Yet, it actually never comes close to be as rigid as games like X-It or Pushover, or more recently Unravel and Lara Croft Go.

Still, it is obvious that a lot of thought was put into making a puzzle out of every single situation that players will come across. The game is filled to the rim with ideas and witty interactions and it’s a pleasure to discover them.



All enemies have to be tackled radically differently and this, in a delightful witty way that never becomes too convoluted. All levels are constructed around several ideas, not just a theme. Each of them has a different feel, goal and approach to the gameplay and the puzzles. I personally like the fact that level 1 and 4 should be entirely linear, when 3 and 2 are mainly open and 5 offers a welcome branching at some point.


The alien forest is the closest to a traditional “run, jump, go right” but, immediately after it, comes a five floors spaceship that Bubba can explore entirely freely using teleports; the purpose of the level being to reach four switches, in any order, that will make the exit accessible.



It’s only in that spaceship that a few puzzles rely on using other aliens that Bubba can bring along.


On a technical level, Bubba’n’Stix could have been an absolute wonder, but a few issues are too obvious not to tarnish otherwise impressive achievements.

The cartoonish graphics are still appealing to the eye in 2021 and the animations of the main character are among the best to be found on Amiga. The choice to bring depth to Bubba’s world through a fake perspective is a welcome relief from flat 2d platformers. The problem comes from backgrounds which, sometimes, do not look finished. Regularly, Bubba will just be standing in front of a dark void and the parallax’ are kept to a minimum to a strange degree. 


Musics are very well crafted. Martin Iveson really did a good job using unique original sounds, instruments and samples.


Sadly and as usual with Core Design, players will have to choose between them and sound effects. It’s a serious flaw here because the levels are very lengthy and listening to a quirky two minutes long music in a loop for thirty minutes is just unimaginable. It is really unforgivable not to have implemented an in-game key to switch. As for the sound effects, they are astonishing, give the game even more character and play a huge role in the humour.


Humour might not be a technical aspect but it surely is omnipresent in Bubba’n’Stix and is truly close to be a part of the gameplay. The general silliness, nonsense, ridicule and cruel irony help put forward the appeal of the player-trolling gameplay. Bubba is not a stern saviour of the world, he is a random guy who’s trying to save his skin and go back home.

Bubba’n’Stix sadly wasn’t met with a commercial success and was never given a sequel. Maybe this failure came from the fact that the game was released late in the Amiga lifespan, (maybe not). Developers were even asked to rush its finish in order to release it as quickly as possible and had to give up on a sixth level. In the last ten years, Billy Allison tackled his desire to work on a sequel several times and Simon Phipps remembers the game as “a joy to work on.” I really wonder why they haven’t tried to reunite to make a sequel or some sort of DLC, in these times of popular retro gaming and pixel art.