Jazzpunk

Lore & Background

Jazzpunk is centered on a top-secret espionage agency operating out of an abandoned subway station in a fictional place called Japanada in the late 1950s. The player takes the role of Polyblank, a silent protagonist who is mailed to the agency in a human-shaped suitcase. Missions are assigned by the head of the organization and begin by ingesting a dose of prescription medicine; tasks include degaussing pigeons, assassinating cowboys, and photocopying Polyblank's buttocks to fool a security scanner.

Reader's Guide

Jazzpunk is significant as a comedy-driven adventure game that prioritizes exploration and player freedom over traditional puzzle-solving. Its development shifted from a serious game with comic relief to a full comedy after the team favored the humorous aspects.

The game's influences include spy, cyberpunk, and film noir genres, as well as older movies like Blade Runner and Alien, and the work of artists Saul Bass and Josef Albers. The Director's Cut and a DLC titled Flavour Nexus were released later, and Adult Swim Games eventually returned the publishing rights to Necrophone Games. The game's legacy lies in its unique blend of absurdist humor, retro-futuristic aesthetics, and open-ended exploration.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally intended to be a serious game with moments of comic relief before being changed into a comedy.
• A minigame titled 'Wedding Qake' (later changed to 'Wedding Cake') features wedding-themed weaponry in a Quake deathmatch-style contest.
• Most voices in the game are performed by developer Luis Hernandez, with additional voice acting by Zoë Quinn and James Stephanie Sterling.
• The game's visual elements are similar to Thirty Flights of Loving, whose developer Brendon Chung is thanked in the end credits.