In Penny Punching Princess, we can live a dream: having enough money to throw fistfuls of it at our problems until they solve themselves.

' Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works.'

— Gordon GekkoIf Gordon Gekko had a favorite video game, it would probably be Penny-Punching Princess. Out now for the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation Vita, Penny-Punching Princess is a game about greed.

A princess of a ruined and destitute kingdom seeks revenge by using the same weapon her enemies had used to defeat her kingdom and her father, the former king: Capitalism!“ Life is all about money. The winners are the ones who have money.” — Zenigami, the Money GodThe Dragoloan Family are an organization of loan sharks.I mean, loan dragons that command a great deal of wealth and have bankrupted many a kingdom. The princess and her faithful beetle butler Sebastian have decided to fight back after losing everything to capitalism. With her permanently crinkled brow and her magic calculator, the princess marches into Dragoloan territory looking to outwit, outlast, and outspend those dastardly draconian debtors.“ Everybody's got a price!” — Ted “The Million Dollar Man” DiBiasePenny-Punching Princess kind of plays like Gauntlet but it's way sillier and cuter. The princess explores dungeons and fights mobs of monsters and deals with a trove of traps as she discovers treasure chests filled with ducats. It sounds pretty basic but keeping in the theme of capitalism, money plays a big role in the game. The princess can bribe monsters to fight for her and it's done using a magic calculator that appears on the screen.“ This era's about money.

Those who have money are in the right.” — Executive HawkragonEvery monster (and by extension, trap) has its price, and you can hold a button and see how much it would cost to recruit them to fight on your side. Not only do they fight for you, but they'll also become a citizen of your kingdom.

As you amass more citizens, you'll be able to fund better armor and special moves in addition to making your kingdom look less like a derelict ruin. The key to advancing through the game is knowing which tools to equip before setting out on your journey and wisely spending your money to buy out monsters who will be your muscle and even buying traps that can be triggered to hurt multiple enemies. Keep in mind that you can only have one monster or trap fighting for you at any given time. Eventually, you'll learn how to spend some of your money on a miracle chance, where the more money you're willing to spend, the more potent its effects can be (e.g. More money earned in the following battle, more health recovery, stronger status effects on mobs, etc.)“ Money, money, money is all you need.” — Prince FleaswallowThis feature sounds neat in practice but it's a bit clumsy when executed. You hold one of the shoulder buttons when bringing up the calculator and you have two control choices: input the price using buttons or touch controls. You can change between these choices when you're not in a dungeon, and you can try and see which control setting is most comfortable for you.

But try as you might, it still takes some time to enter the amount and to also select the correct enemy to bribe. Sometimes I've tapped the wrong enemy and I'd be several hundred (or thousand) coins poorer and stuck with a minion I don't need. This is especially troublesome when you're dealing with a horde of baddies and you're trying to do math; the action does not freeze when you're typing up amounts. It's easy to get carried away bribing enemies and then learning that your calculator is out of juice, so you'll need to find batteries to restore power or wait for it to restore power naturally.

And it's easy to be short on cash if you're too dependent on bribing your enemies to help you, and it's especially annoying if you're trying to collect treasure on the other side of a literal paywall but you're a couple of hundred coins short of opening the gate.“ Money is power!!!” — Narrator of Penny-Punching PrincessPenny-Punching Princess is a bit rough around the edges. While the concept is novel, the execution is not quite there. It's a shame because the dialogue is funny and the characters are really cute!Hint: Don't be afraid to wander off the main track when exploring dungeons.

More often than not, you'll end up finding some treasure!by Ray n.

In Penny Punching Princess, we can live a dream: having enough money to throw fistfuls of it at our problems until they solve themselves. It's an adorable beat-em-up with a twist: you can kick the butts of your enemies for money, or you can turn around and bribe them to leave you alone! It's available now on the Nintendo Switch eShop or you can pick up a physical game cartridge on Amazon!For those wondering about spending cash on a game about spending cash, here's everything we know about Penny Punching Princess!

Princess battles the Dragoloans over the course of various top-down levels, with waves of enemies interspersed throughout. Between waves, you can explore, discover treasures, and interact with the environment (more on that later) to prepare for your next bout. When the enemies descend upon you, you'll have to either use your various combo punching abilities or your wallet to get them out of your way, filling your pockets with what they drop. After each level, you can visit your kingdom, a menu hub from which you can level up your skills and craft new armor. That is, if you've bribed enough enemies to join the kingdom and do the work for you!In a world where money is power, it only makes sense that a God of Money would rule. He gifts Princess with a magic calculator that allows her to subvert the traditional beat-em-up gameplay.

As you fight your way through enemies, they drop money. Fill your wallet, then enter cash amounts into the calculator on screen to avoid nastier enemies and traps. Enemies who have price tags over their heads can be bribed for the amount you see.

Simply put it into the calculator, and win them over to your side. These enemies can help you in the moment, then will return to your hub world kingdom to give you future benefits as you develop your fighting skills. So how do the controls work?Princess has a varied arsenal of attacks, with further skills you can develop and discover as you progress: Her basic attack is mapped to Y and can be strung together in combination with other abilities. B is a dodge roll, but Y and B together make for a stronger punch with a slight delay.

Hold them down together and release for an even more powerful blast that will knock enemies away at the cost of some of your HP. A is a heavy attack. Touch controlsPenny Punching Princess has two separate control schemes, touch, and button.

The two are mostly identical but for how Princess's signature skill is used: her calculator. In both schemes, the calculator is activated with ZL. If you're in the touch control scheme, you can input money amounts by tapping them out on the calculator, or just shortcut straight to tapping the enemy you want to bribe. In button controls, you'll have to use the left arrows and A button to slowly input numbers. Or just shortcut ZR to target what you want to bribe. Button controls are faster with the ZL + ZR combination, but less precise, as you'll automatically target the nearest bribable thing and may have to use the left arrows to scroll through to find the one you want. Throw money at everything.

Enemies aren't the only things you can throw money at. You can bribe environmental objects such as cannons or fire pits to attack enemies for you, or you can bribe traps to disarm. Some bosses are bribable if you have enough cash, letting you skip them entirely. You can also offer cash to the God of Money. If your offering pleases him, he'll step in with a Coin Miracle, giving the Princess more powers or allowing her to subvert a Game Over.From what I've seen so far, Penny Punching Princess promises a challenge. The bribe mechanic isn't just some skippable gimmick-enemy waves will flood your screen in tight spaces, making it difficult to even get a swing in if you don't bribe. Furthermore, your kingdom is built on the enemies you bribe.

When you return to the kingdom between stages, you can craft armor for yourself or upgrade your skills if you have the bribed minions to do so. The enemies you need to bribe for the best armor may not always be the enemies that are most strategic to bribe in the moment. If you can't bribe them at first try, try again. As a result, you'll need to grind. Penny Punching Princess expects you to.

When you first enter a new stage, try not to worry about what enemies you need for the next armor level. Finish the stage if you can, and if you struggled, check the enemy lists of earlier stages and find the ones you still need to bribe to boost yourself. You should also keep an eye out for any Zenigami Statues you missed, as these equate to needed skill points.

Any stage can be done over and over again as much as you like, so if you just need skill points or money, go back to easier stages and bust your way through for high cash rewards and low risk. How can I fill my pockets with sweet, sweet cash? Everything in Penny Punching Princess revolves around money, so you're obviously going to need lots of it. Office quest walkthrough chapter 2.

While you may be tempted to grab at as much money as possible as you progress, you'll quickly find it difficult to get rich and finish challenging levels at the same time. Most of your money on a new level will go toward bribing environmental pieces to do your work for you, not permanently into your wallet.Don't fret. As I said above, grinding for money and skill points is expected and necessary in this game. Whenever you're short on cash, revisit old levels and take time to use the break function to shake down your opponents for coins. We found the button control scheme easier to use for this, as rotating the right stick is a faster input than reaching your hand across the screen to tap on an enemy.

If you go back to easier levels where you don't have to worry about opponents steamrolling you without bribery, you can simply stand in packs of enemies and break them one after another to rake in the dough.One last thing to note is that while you can bribe the God of Money to avert a Game Over, it's not recommended. You generally need quite a bit of money to do so, and if you've died once, you're likely going to continue to struggle until you upgrade your skills and armor. Unless you were just on the cusp of finishing the level and don't want to do it all over again, it's better to go back, upgrade yourself, and return later for a win without a Game Over bribe. Sounds fun enough to punch my pennies for. How much does it cost?Penny Punching Princess is available in the Switch eShop and as a physical game cartridge for $39.99.

When can I play? If you find the mechanics curious, you can check out the, which showcases the bribe mechanic. It's just a short auto-runner, but it seems to appropriately capture the mayhem of trying to use a calculator while dodging enemies.Penny Punching Princess is available now in the Nintendo eShop or as a physical game cartridge!Any questions about Penny Punching Princess?If you're wondering a little more about the mechanics of this financial frolick, put them in the comments and I'll answer your questions.