Part Time UFO, from Kirby developers, lands on Switch today

Published , by Ozzie Mejia

When they aren't designing games for a certain pink puffball, the crew at HAL Laboratory is busy putting together some colorful side projects. The studio behind Kirby and BOXBOY surprised Nintendo Direct Mini viewers on Wednesday by unveiling an entirely new IP. Part Time UFO is entering the Nintendo Switch atmosphere and it's out today.

Part Time UFO follows an extraterrestrial spaceship looking thingamajig named Jobski. It can be assumed he wants Earth people to take him to their leader, but he's in the middle of getting sidetracked with a bunch of random tasks. Fortunately, he has something to help him through these odd jobs: a giant claw. Ooooooooh!

Okay, so as it turns out, Jobski quickly learns that world domination is a lot less lucrative than simply using his giant claw to help people out and get paid in the process. So the object of Part Time UFO is to complete various tasks by utilizing Jobski's claw. A full physics engine is at work here, so don't stack things up in such a way that your pile will topple over. Each job has three challenges attached to it, giving players incentive to go above and beyond the normal line of duty. Jobs include stacking statues, stacking fish, and even stacking people. Players can use any rewards they earn over the course of their jobs to upgrade their outfits, some of which offer stat upgrades or other abilities.

Part Time UFO features a full campaign, as well as side modes that include the Tower of Infinity and Treasure Island, the latter of which explores a mysterious temple. If you want to stick to the main game, a second player can join up for local co-op play.

Part Time UFO is available right now on the Nintendo eShop for only $8.99.