Foxy: The First Steps – Precision Platforming Done Right

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• DEVELOPER: Fox Fabricio Branco
• PUBLISHER: Fox Fabricio Branco
• GENRE: Precision Platformer
• PLATFORMS: PC
• RELEASE DATE: July 10th, 2026
• PRICE: 4,99 €

Foxy: The First Steps is a precision platformer that focuses almost entirely on movement rather than storytelling. Going into it, I honestly expected a short experience with only a handful of levels. Instead, I was surprised by just how well put together the entire game is.

You play as Foxy, whose goal is to reach mysterious portals while uncovering bits of lore through hidden codices and encounters with mysterious guardians. The story is intentionally minimal and never gets in the way of the gameplay. It’s there to give you a reason to keep moving forward rather than becoming the main attraction.

Forgiving design meets tight controls

As someone who’s never been a huge fan of precision platformers because they can often feel brutally punishing, for example Super Meat Boy, but I was pleasantly surprised by how forgiving this one is. In many games of this genre, touching a spike with even a single pixel means instant death.

Foxy: The First Steps is much more generous. Your head can occasionally graze hazards without immediately killing you, while direct contact with traps sends you back to the latest checkpoint. Death is frequent, but it’s never frustrating because you’re almost instantly back in the action.

That forgiving design works because the movement itself feels excellent. Foxy controls beautifully, with responsive jumps, wall slides, wall jumps, precise air control, and pressure-sensitive jumping that lets you carefully adjust both your height and distance. A quick tap results in a small hop, while holding the jump button gives you much more distance, making precision feel completely under your control.

The objective of every level is straightforward: navigate deadly obstacles, collect the key crystal, and reach the exit portal. What starts as a simple platformer gradually introduces more complex hazards, constantly layering new mechanics on top of the previous ones. Falling traps, moving hazards, narrow corridors, hidden spikes, and carefully timed jumps all require increasingly precise execution without ever feeling unfair.

Every biome brings something new to the table

There are fifteen handcrafted levels spread across multiple distinct biomes, each introducing its own atmosphere and mechanics. You begin with a simple introductory area before moving into darker environments where visibility becomes part of the challenge. Every biome changes not only visually but also mechanically, ensuring the game never relies on the exact same obstacle combinations for too long.

Levels themselves are fairly short, usually lasting anywhere from thirty seconds to a couple of minutes depending on how many mistakes you make. That pacing works perfectly because even after several failed attempts, you’re never losing much progress. Despite only lasting around three to five hours, the game packs a surprising amount of content into its relatively short runtime.

Visually, Foxy: The First Steps embraces a charming pixel art style with distinct color palettes for each biome. While it’s undeniably simple, it has plenty of personality and does a good job establishing each environment. My only real criticism is the visual readability.

Since everything is built around small pixel art assets, hazards can occasionally blend into the environment a little too well. There were moments where spikes were cleverly hidden behind flowers or tucked into scenery, leading to deaths that felt more like visual confusion than player error. Thankfully, the game’s generous checkpoint system makes these moments easy to forgive.

Platformer that demands patience and precision

One thing I wasn’t particularly fond of is how progression is handled. New levels and biomes remain completely locked until you’ve finished everything before them. I understand why the developer chose this approach, especially for players who enjoy mastering every stage, but I sometimes wished I could skip ahead just to see later environments before returning to perfect earlier ones.

This definitely isn’t a game you’ll likely finish in one sitting. While it can technically be completed within a few hours, precision platformers demand a surprising amount of concentration, and constant deaths can become mentally exhausting. Thankfully, because the controls are so responsive, almost every mistake genuinely feels like your own fault rather than the game’s.

Replayability mainly comes from improving your performance, hunting for secrets, and mastering levels rather than discovering entirely new content. The hidden collectibles aren’t particularly rewarding on their own, but speedrunners and completionists will likely enjoy revisiting stages to optimize every jump and route.

The final verdict

Honestly, I struggled to find many major flaws. Outside of the occasional visual clarity issue and the somewhat restrictive progression system, Foxy: The First Steps knows exactly what it wants to be and executes its ideas remarkably well. It never tries to overwhelm the player with unnecessary mechanics. Instead, it focuses on one core gameplay loop and gradually evolves it through increasingly clever traps and level design.

Even if you aren’t normally a fan of precision platformers, this is an easy game to recommend. Its forgiving checkpoints, responsive controls, satisfying movement, and consistently inventive level design make it approachable without sacrificing challenge. It’s a small, minimalist platformer that understands its strengths, respects your time, and delivers a genuinely enjoyable experience from beginning to end. Besides everything mentioned, it’s also very cheap.

Review copy provided by the publisher