This is a tutorial for the Co-Op speedrun route for Pikuniku, which includes the majority of tech and strats you will need in each level. This guide does not go over basic gameplay such as solving the puzzles or directions to go, as it assumes that you already know how to do it casually.
I understand that this guide may be confusing considering it's entirely text with no visuals, so I recommend you watch the WR run of Co-op to understand some tricks. I'd personally suggest you watch my run with KingCaptain27, as I know for sure that we do most, if not all, of these tricks.
If you have questions about anything, DM me on Discord at Suprnova#0001 and I’ll try to answer to my best ability.
#General Tech
Rolling: Self-explanatory, when you roll you go faster than if you were walking. Additionally, exiting ball form while touching the ground will give you a small bounce upwards. This can be used to your advantage for small jumps that would otherwise require a slow, normal jump. It can also be problematic, however. In the event that you don’t want to bounce after exiting ball form, it’s possible to do so if you exit while still in the air. While this doesn’t apply to every scenario, it’s useful to know and to use to your advantage.
Ball Jumping: When you enter a ball form, you become more aerodynamic, and you’ll be able to clear more distance. This is necessary for some strats in the game, so it’s a good idea to practice them. Once you jump, enter your ball form at the apex, and you’ll be able to clear the maximum amount of distance.
Ball Swimming: When you enter a ball form, you’ll be able to move faster underwater, at the expense of not being buoyant. You should enter large areas of water in ball form and roll at the floor level to go faster, while exiting ball form with ample room to jump to surface level without slowing down.
Kick Boosting: Exclusive to tethered levels in Co-op modes is kick boosting. The basic way of doing this trick is to have one person stand on top of the other person, jump, then have the player below jump and then continuously kick the person above. It’s relatively simple, but can lead to some large skips. Moving horizontally is essential for some skips, and good communication is essential for performing those maneuvers. Additional vertical movement can be accomplished by kicking first, jumping, and then kicking again. This should only be done when necessary, however, as it will usually lose time since you have to fall for longer.
#Level 1
1: After exiting the angled corridor at the very beginning of the level, it's possible to kick the player ahead, usually player 2, onto the floating platforms directly ahead. The player at the bottom can then perform strat 2 as normal.
Back-up strat 1: If you fail the first kick, stand between the two floating platforms and kick a player up to the floating platform, then perform strat 2 as normal.
2: Near the beginning of the level, there’s an elevated platform with a box on it, and a corridor that leads to the right. You want to get into the corridor, begin to walk, jump as close to the end as possible, and then get into a ball to reach the edge of the platform. Once on the platform, go right as if you were doing it casually.
3: Once you encounter the second box that is near a ledge, get onto the edge of the platform, jump, and go into a ball. You should manage to get to the ledge on the opposite side, allowing you to skip the bottom puzzle. Alternatively, you can push the box to be closer to the ledge, which will give you some extra height and will make the skip easier. This barely loses time, but is optional.
#Level 2
1: Once you reach the puzzle with the fountains of water, immediately walk toward the right to where the elevated platform is. Get on top of each other and then have the bottom player kick the top player towards the platform. Then do the rest of the puzzle like normal.
2: Once you reach the black “T” platform that splits you from the other player, have the player on the left kick the red ball over to the right side where the other player is. Your goal is to get it onto the far right platform where the zipline leads to. It will probably be necessary for the player on the right to volley the ball to the right once it reaches them. If you get the ball onto that platform, have both players use the ball as a boost to scale the wall. If the ball falls down to the puzzle below, use it as a replacement for the black ball. If you fail to get the ball to the other side at all, simply solve the puzzle below as normal.
4: When you get to the puzzle with the three blue balls, have one player swing up towards the first ball, and then push it to the left, letting it fall onto the button. In the meantime, the other player should be getting the second ball into the middle hole. The best way to do this is to roll the ball to the opposite side of the pit, get underneath it, jump or otherwise let the ball catch air, then hit it in the direction of the middle button. The player on top should then jump across the gap to the third ball. If the player fails the jump, they can boost off of their partner to get over to the other side. Push the ball to the left slowly, and then have the bottom player volley the ball into the right hole by jumping into it. If it doesn't work, use the same setup used for the middle button on the right button.
#Level 3
Note: There is a black car in this level, similar to level 7. The key difference is that this car gives no noticeable benefits over the normal car. Even if you fall down to that area, you should not waste time getting the car.
1: About a third of the way through the race, there will be an arrow underneath a gray platform that is pointing right. Drive through normally until you get to the arrow pointing right that’s underneath a cloud. Boost up the ramp so that you land on the cloud above. Stall and wait for your boost, and then boost towards the wall. You should launch over the wall and onto the area behind it. Both players should do this strat. If one fails the trick, you can just take the bottom path and do it the normal way.
2: About halfway through the level, you will go off of a teetering brown platform. Go off of this platform in a way where you will clear the yellow ramp that follows it, but not overshoot it. If done correctly, you should land on the lower path. This lower path is considerably faster than the upper path, since the upper path has a loop in it. About three fourths of the way through the race, there will be another yellow ramp shaped in the same way as the first one. Go slowly off of this ramp to land on the bottom path, much like the first one.
3: Once you finish the race, you will drive your car into a pit of water. Drive on the floor of it until you hit the curve and get shot upwards. Wait for the front of your car to be angled at an up-right angle, and then boost. You should be able to get out of the water, and you’ll be able to drive the rest of the way to the boat, which will save some time.
#Level 4
Tip: Always go the same place as your teammate. Tethered levels are a pain to deal with when you don’t communicate. There are lots of floating platforms that you can get your line stuck on, which are a pain to get off of. If you do get stuck, use your ball form to move towards the platform so that you get on top of the platform.
1: Once you reach the three pits, one of which will have a red platform at the bottom of it, fall through the rightmost pit, and then hold left as you fall. Once you land, you will push a box that’ll clear your path, allowing you to skip the puzzle that you would otherwise do if you took the left path.
2: After pushing the box, immediately fall down the pit and try to land on the second elevated platform, right above where the ball is. Walk towards the rotating black platform so that you will be standing on one of the legs of it while it is rotating counter-clockwise. Continue walking until you get close to the path on the left, and then jump off of the black platform to land inside of it.
3: When you reach the small hole with a barrel in the way, go into a ball and immediately exit it so that you will bounce. Go over the barrel and prop yourself on the left side of it. Have the other player jump through in the same way. If done correctly, you will prevent the barrel from falling down towards the button below, which will close the gate that you otherwise need to go through.
#Level 5
At the moment, there are no known major tricks in this level. Just keep your speed and movement in mind and you should be fine.
#Level 6
Similarly, there are no known strats for level 6, aside from small optimisations with movement.
#Level 7
1: After the first loop in the level, there will be a teetering brown platform. Slowly go off of this so that you will land on the platform immediately after it, but go fast enough so that you won’t lift up the side you came from, or else the other player will have trouble going through it. Once you land on the platform, boost onto the cloud that follows the jump and then stall. Once you get your boost back, drive and boost off of the cloud. If done correctly, you should get over a large wall, which will let you skip a good bit of the level.
2: Once you land after doing this skip, you should see a field of grains behind you. The jump immediately after this has two routes. One of the routes goes over the wall and continues like normal, while the other one leads to a room with a black car. The black car is considerably faster than the normal cars that you get, and it also has a faster recharging boost. If you, for whatever reason, fail the jump, or otherwise can't make it to the path over the wall, you should switch to the black car. If possible, leave your current car before the drop to the black car's area, so that your old car won't be in the way of the black car. You should not go for the black car if you don't have to.
#Level 8
1: The first two obstacles in this level, the ones involving the water and the swings, can be skipped by simply jumping off of each other and kicking, then drag the other player up.
2: After the obstacle with the swings, there will be a gap with a basketball hoop, and a platform on the other side with a cactus ball. Get on top of each other and perform a kick boost while aiming towards the platform on the right. You should land on the opposite side, where you can continue through the level.
3: You can also skip the obstacles with the clouds by walking all the way to the right and then kick boosting up the ledge.
4: A small optimisation that you can perform during the second cloud section if you're on a bad cycle is to simply get underneath the edge of the platform with the cactus and then kick boost high enough so that the top player can kick the cactus off of the right wall, which will bounce it into the hole and onto the button to open the door.
5: After the second cloud portion, you’ll encounter a zipline. Ride the zipline up to the elevated platform, where you’ll encounter two pivoted plus signs. Have one player go into a ball and then go as fast as you can through them, while the other player jumps towards it to stay in range of the tether. You should get onto the opposite elevated platform. Once you get here, stand on top of each other, do a single kick boost, and have the top player grab onto the swing, and then swing both players up to the land above.
#Level 9
1: On the puzzle with the two synchronised buttons and the two balls above, it’s possible for one of the players to barely get onto the platform with the lever by getting into a ball, without using the other player. The other player should bring the available balls to the right side of the black box below. Once the first player flips the lever and the black box begins to rotate, try to push both balls into it, as well as yourself or your partner.
2: When you reach the synchronised buttons above a small black platform, the player on the left should fall to the left while the other falls to the right. The left player should go along the platform and get to the three tethered balls, and then begin to push them towards the center room, while taking care as to not accidentally touch the spring, which will send you upwards. The best method to move these balls to the center room is to get onto the left side of the balls and push them until you cannot push them up the ledge anymore. From there, back up a little and begin kicking the balls until you get them over the ledge and onto the lower level. Meanwhile, the right player should head right and reach the big ball that is in the wall and then push it onto its proper button. Then assist the left player with bringing the balls to the buttons by standing as a buffer between the second and third balls, while the left player kicks them up the hill. This is probably the most inconsistent part of the game, so just stay focused and don’t get irrational while you push the balls up.
3: Once you get to the two large tethered balls, use a similar strategy with a combination of standing and crouching to get it near the opening, and then kick it through the hole. This is also somewhat inconsistent, but is easier to handle. Once you get through the opening, use the springs to launch yourself at the left side of the front ball, which should launch the ball to the right. If you need to move the ball more, walk on the right side of it and then slowly move towards the middle of it, which should roll it to the right. You can also jump in between the springs and then kick the ball to the right, which will let you avoid being bounced around by the springs.
