Hypercharge: Unboxed
Defend the Hypercore as an action figure against toy enemies.
Hypercharge: Unboxed is a 2020 shooter game developed and published by Digital Cybercherries. Players assume the role of an action figure defending a central object called the Hypercore from waves of hostile animated toys in domestic and retail environments. The narrative involves the antagonist Major Evil leading attacks that, if successful, would cause humans to forget their childhood action figures.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Digital Cybercherries
- Designer
- Dec Doyle
- Ulrich Gollick
- Joe Henson
- Josh Lennen
- Nick Watkinson
- Andrew Hielscher
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 5
- Windows
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X/S
- Genre
- First-person shooter, Third-person shooter
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Hypercharge: Unboxed supports cooperative gameplay for 1-4 players in online and local co-op, with difficulty scaling to match the number of players. Offline play with player bots and full split-screen for online and local co-op are available. The game features a wave-based shooter mode with a story campaign and classic player versus player modes for up to eight players. Players explore to find weapons, resources, and hidden items while defending the Hypercore. The game avoids pay-to-progress models, focusing on player skill and teamwork, and allows character customization through unlocking action figures by achieving gameplay milestones.
Development and release
Digital Cybercherries received an Unreal Dev Grant that helped fund Hypercharge: Unboxed, which was built in Unreal Engine 4. The game was released on the Nintendo eShop on 31 January 2020 and on Steam on 27 April. Development for Xbox was announced on 16 July 2022, with future PlayStation support also confirmed.
Reception
Hypercharge: Unboxed received generally favorable reviews for the Xbox Series X version and mixed or average reviews for the Nintendo Switch version on Metacritic. OpenCritic assessed fair approval, with 73% of critics recommending the game. Kotaku praised the solid mechanics, noting that guns feel good, enemies react when shot, and movement is fast and snappy. Nintendo Life highlighted its multiplayer appeal, calling it great fun with enough friends. The game won first place in IndieDB's Players Choice Indie of the Year 2020 and received IndieDB's Editor's Choice Award. It also won Best Multiplayer at Brazil's Independent Games Festival and the GWB Game Awards. It was a finalist in Best Casual Game at the TIGA Games Industry Awards in 2022 and was highlighted by Steam in Best of 2020 under Top New Releases. The game saw a surge in popularity in 2022 and another in May 2025 after developers responded to a player complaint about its low online playerbase.
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