92% Positive: Free Multiplayer Game Tries Something Entirely New — And It Works

At first glance, Jono looks like a fairly ordinary 2D platformer with minimalist pixel graphics. Players guide a small character through increasingly tricky obstacle courses, jumping over spikes, dodging traps and occasionally solving puzzles. The twist? There’s only one playable character in the entire world – and everyone has to share it. Anyone who wants to take control of Jono must join a queue. When their turn finally comes, they have exactly 60 seconds to get the little hero as far as possible. After that, the next player takes over, picking up exactly where the previous person left off.

The shared objective is certainly ambitious: The community has to complete a total of one million levels. Whenever someone successfully clears a room, it’s permanently completed for everyone. If Jono dies, only the current section resets. And players seem to be making good progress. As the developers announced on Steam, the community has already completed an impressive 100,000 levels. Anyone who doesn’t feel like playing can simply watch the action unfold. At peak times, 185 players were waiting in the queue while another 232 people were watching.

Jono keeps things visually simple. (Pictured: A screenshot from Jono.)

The interface also includes a community chat and a leaderboard for the best players. (Pictured: A screenshot from Jono.)

A brief introduction to Jono is provided in the trailer:

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