What, exactly, is the Gunk? That’s the question for which Rani, your playercharacter, spends this brisk five-hour adventure seeking an answer after her ship discovers an uncharted, unnamed, otherwise uninhabited planet that’s bubbling over with the stuff. But it’s also a question we find ourselves asking of the Gunk’s unusual role in the game. It’s a memorable presence, filling spaces with gobbets of giant red and black frogspawn, and occasionally advancing on Rani like a cloud with a grudge. But it’s not really an enemy as such.

And although you’re aiming a reticle and pulling a trigger, your interactions with it aren’t quite combat. As you apply your Poltergust-esque vacuum cleaner to the Gunk, pulling it apart in a treacly stream, it does little to react. (The question of sentience is also raised, and eventually answered, by the story.) Nor does the Gunk fill the usual role of an obstacle in a platformer. There is a degree of jumping and navigating of spaces here, but coming into contact with these deposits isn’t lethal; it just makes it very hard to see what you’re doing.

Eventually, though, it clicks – you’re not fighting or avoiding the Gunk, but mining it. And it’s at this point that The Gunk’s shape reveals itself, as a spiritual successor to the SteamWorld Dig games. It’s a sensible template for Image & Form’s first foray into the third dimension. Think of it like this: if SteamWorld Dig was a beginner-friendly take on Metroid, this is the studio’s Metroid Prime, a game that borrows the trappings of a 3D shooter to support its transition but resolutely isn’t one. It even has a scanning mechanic for making sense of the alien flora and architecture you encounter.