Only Up!

Only Up! is a platform game developed by SCKR Games. It was released on Steam on May 24, 2023, but was permanently removed following controversy over the use of copyrighted assets.
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 and Jump King. Only Up! became one of the most popular games on Twitch and Kick shortly after its release.
Gameplay
The game begins in a junkyard, where the main character, Jackie, must run, climb, jump, and vault through a series of assorted objects and platforms. Around the map, there are beds the player can use as trampolines to skip major portions of the obstacle course. The player may slow down time to control the character's movements. There are no checkpoints throughout the entirety of the game, meaning that the player cannot save their progress.
Release
Only Up! was developed and published by SCKR Games. It was partly inspired by the folktale "Jack and the Beanstalk". On June 15, 2023, SCKR Games released an update that added controls for the camera. This gave the player the ability to alternate between first- and third-person perspectives and to shift and center the camera. The update was criticized for "[taking] away all the fun of watching streamers suffer".
Removal from Steam
Only Up! was removed from Steam on June 30, 2023, after numerous copyright violations associated with the game's assets were found. One such violation included a 3D model of a giant girl, which was made by artist Aboulicious and titled "Blanket In The Wind". The model was non-commercially licensed and originated from Sketchfab, a 3D modeling website. Other media were present, including sound effects from Final Fantasy VII and Minecraft. Subsequently, SCKR Games released an update and removed all instances of said copyrighted material, later relaunching Only Up! on July 1. SCKR Games contacted Abolicious to create a new 3D model, and it was later replaced by a statue of Atlas.
On September 7, 2023, Only Up! was permanently removed from Steam due to the amount of stress the creator had. In the game's update notes on Steam, the solo developer stated that they needed "peace of mind and healing" and that they wanted to move on from the game. The developer announced their next video game, Kith, stated to be completely different from Only Up!, and planned on improving as a game designer.
Promotions of non-fungible tokens
In October 2021, all blockchain games that buy and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were officially banned from Steam. Truth Labs, the creator of the Goblintown NFT series, released their NFTs with a Creative Commons 0 license, meaning that any commercial work could use them. Only Up! placed images on the main character's shirt and as one of the masks found at the player's starting point. However, Only Up!s intent with the NFTs was to promote them, not sell them. The NFT series later sold clothing based on the game. It is unknown whether SCKR Games has partnered with Truth Labs.
Reception and legacy
Initial reception
Upon releasing on May 24, 2023, Only Up!s initial user base was in China and Japan, where the game originated. Content creators throughout Spain featured the game, adding up to 250,000 views on Twitch. In June 2023, Only Up! had a total of 85,000 viewers on Twitch and was the sixth most popular game. Several livestreamers and speedrunners have rage quit due to the frustration of falling down and losing progress from the absence of a save system.
Critical reception
Many reviews felt that Only Up!'s gameplay was stressful—which is what made the game go viral—and that it was similar to the platform game Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Ayuo Kawase of Automaton Media praised the "high feeling of tension" players felt while in the game. Writing for TechRadar, Elie Gould felt that Only Up! could give the player "a slight adrenaline boost" with the thought that a player could lose their progress by making a simple mistake. Ben Lyons of Gamereactor, rating the game seven out of ten, noted that the game had no checkpoints—places where the player could save their progress—and wrote that players must figure out a way to navigate obstacles without falling. Rating the game three out of five stars, Dexerto's Rishabh Sabarwal summarized the "captivating" gameplay, writing that the player—when close to winning—can fall at any moment, thus losing significant progress. However, journalist Jason Cartwright of TechAU praised the gameplay as "very rewarding" for players who manage to surmount the obstacles presented.
Most critics felt that the graphics of Only Up! were poorly constructed. While Christian Harrison of Try Hard Guides, Gould, and Lyons felt that the obstacles and overall design were not polished, Cartwright praised the "beautiful" graphics and lighting when using a high-end computer. Lyons and Sabarwal stated that the hidden easter eggs in each section can make players feel surprised. Although Kawase wrote that Only Up! was "poorly optimized", Harrison noted that the game's graphics settings were set to their maximum. Harrison, Gould, Lyons, and Sabarwal agreed that the game was a "rushed cash grab" and felt that Only Up! was not a unique platform game.
OnlyUp Fortnite
OnlyUp Fortnite is a custom Fortnite map created in Unreal Engine by a user known as ARMY. The adaptation shares most gameplay aspects with its predecessor, adding Fortnite references. With eight times the player count of the original Only Up!, the Fortnite version had over 100,000 players in early July.
See also
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Jump King
Notes
References
External links
Only Up! on MobyGames
SCKR Games's message on the game's permanent removal
2023 video games
3D platform games
Indie games
Video games developed in South Korea
Windows games
Windows-only games
Video games with time manipulation