Action Henk Is a Fast Toy and a Fair 7.0
Action Henk is a game about running fast, jumping far and sliding on your backside through a world built from toys. It came out in 2015 from Curve Digital and RageSquid, the source lists both as developers, with RageSquid credited as publisher. It landed on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, Linux, Mac and PC. Across eight outlets tracked by the IGDB critic aggregate, it settled at 7.0 out of 10.
Trailer, via RageSquid.
Momentum Is the Whole Game
The premise is simple enough to fit on a toy box. The source describes Action Henk as a ragged 90s action figure who wants to prove once and for all that he is the fastest of them all. Standing in his way is a band of other ragged 90s action figures with the same ambition.
What makes the running interesting, on the game’s own terms, is momentum. The source says Henk must become a master of momentum and defy physics. You build speed, carry it through a jump, and convert it into a butt-slide that keeps you low and quick. The game means that literally.
A Side View of a Toy-Filled World
The camera sits at the side throughout. The source lists the perspective as side view, so you watch Henk from a flat profile, which puts every jump and every landing in plain view.
The world is filled with toys. That is not a metaphor, it is the pitch. The source calls it a glorious toy-filled world, and the themes are action and comedy. The register stays light.
Genres get stacked on top of each other here. The source lists Action Henk as platform, racing, sport and indie. The racing is the spine. The platforming is the vocabulary. The sport tag rounds it out.
Racing Against the Ragged Band
Single player and multiplayer both exist, per the source. The single-player side is where the game teaches you what it wants, and what it wants is momentum.
The multiplayer side is where the design pays off, in this paper’s read. Racing a ragged action figure down a toy-strewn track is a clean test of nerve, because the track itself is the opponent as much as the other runner is. That is an impression, not a claim the source makes.
Here is what the game asks you to master, in order of how much it matters:
- Building speed on the flat before you commit to a jump.
- Reading the arc of a jump so you land still moving forward.
- Dropping into a butt-slide to stay low and keep the speed you built.
- Chaining all three together without losing the line.
- Beating the ragged band to the finish.
That order is this paper’s reading of the source, which names momentum and the butt-slide but does not spell out the sequence.
Where the Momentum Fights Back
The risk with a game built on momentum is that momentum is unforgiving by definition. One bad jump, one mistimed slide, and the run is gone. You restart. You build the speed again. You try the line again.
That loop is the game, as this paper sees it. For players who like a clean line and a fast time, it is close to perfect. For players who want to poke around a toy-filled world at their own pace, it will feel like a wall. The source does not describe a restart loop; that is our read of how momentum games tend to work.
The side view also limits how much the toy world can show off, in our view. You see a slice of it, not the whole room. The comedy theme lands in the presentation, but the camera keeps most of it at arm’s length. The source does not say either way.
Eight Outlets, One Number
The 7.0 aggregate across eight outlets is a fair reading of what Action Henk is. It is not a game that reinvented the platformer. It is a game that took one idea, momentum, and built a tight contest around it.
The source gives no comparison to other racing games, and this paper will not invent one. What the source does give is a clear platform list and a clear score. That is enough to place the game.
That honesty is worth something. It is also the ceiling. There is no depth here beyond the line you are trying to hold, and once you have held it, the game has shown you everything it has.
What the Toy Box Gets Right
The butt-slide is the best idea in Action Henk. It is funny, it is physical, and it solves a real design problem: how do you let a runner stay fast while staying low? The source names it as a core move.
The ragged 90s action figure premise is the second-best idea. It gives the game a look and a joke without demanding a story it cannot support. Henk does not need a motive beyond being the fastest.
The multiplayer mode is the third. Racing a friend down a toy-strewn track is the purest version of what the game is selling.
The Verdict on Action Henk
Action Henk is a good game with a narrow ambition, and it hits that ambition cleanly. The momentum system is real, the butt-slide is a genuine design win, and the toy-filled world gives the whole thing a look worth noting.
The cost is range. The side view shows you a slice of the toy box, not the box. The single-player loop is a wall for anyone who does not enjoy restarting, our read again, not the source’s.
None of that undoes the core. When Action Henk is working, it is a clean contest between you and a line, and that is a rare and honest thing for a racing game to be. The 7.0 is not a knock. It is the correct score for a game that does one thing very well and does not pretend to do more.
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