Any% Route

OK, so I'm not exactly QUALIFIED to make this speedrun route, as I have no runs on video, but I do know how to run the game.

Splits should be:
 Village, Bot 1, Bot 2, Ernie, Bot 3, Volcano.

The village is simple, but with one simple skip. Wake up, and go to the village. Spam text, but instead of fixing the bridge, use your beautiful leg kicks to anger the guy by the transport line, and get him to kick you over the gap.

Bot 1, Play through normal by swinging your way to the top and use the clouds to get over, and then you should be in the forest. save the 2 villagers like normal and go to the shop to buy the sunglasses, which are needed to enter. Follow the villagers into the dance club and beat the 'King Of Dancing' Use the electric card the villager gave you to go to the abandoned metro station. Go into their base for the cutscene, then go back out and to your right to the boss battle. Kick the bot to start the battle.

Bot 2, A villager from the original town, which I have nicknamed corn man, will come into the base. You will receive the water cap when leaving, and you need to equip it as you go back to the original village by watering the flower in the 'pink land' and taking the secret. This is the only way back to the original village. Once you are in the village, I suggest taking of the water cap, because you can accidentally press 'z' and plant a flower which wastes time. Fight the boss as normal.

Ernie, As you celebrate your victory, a worm will come into your base, and ask for help. The alarm that goes of when he does this uncovers the power puzzle. After powering the metro you take it to the lake. You must participate in Pik Dug to find the key to the shack. Follow the worm to his family's cave, where the mother asks you to save 'Ernie'

You fight boss 3 immediately after saving Ernie. This should be your shortest split.

Mr. Sunshine takes you into the volcano, and you must kick the security camera for the good ol' worm to grab the key. You navigate the vents as you save your friends and listen in on Mr. Sunshine's evil plans. After the final boss fight, ended through a robot pay rebellion, you chase Mr. Sunshine through lava where he launches popcorn on you. He presses the button, launching you both out of the volcano. Then you kick Mr. Sunshine into space, and you stop the timer as his face leaves your foot.

I hope this was helpful, and have a good day. Cheers!

Co-Op Guide

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.

General Movement Optimization

ROLLING ( O    O )  !!!

Piku will always try to stand on the ground beneath them when not balled up and walks really slow. Piku has two jump heights. Pressing the jump button while standing will allow Piku to do a full height jump. Coming out of ball form while on the ground will do a jump about half the height of the standing one. Coming out of ball form before hitting the ground will make Piku stand instead of doing the short hop after landing first. Ball form is the fastest way to get around for the most part with some exceptions that I will mention. Doing a standing jump horizontally and balling up as soon as you can after the jump will give you the same height while still giving the most distance cleared because ball form has more horizontal speed. Ball form is fastest in water so maximize ball form in water while spending as little time as possible in the water. They can also kick things, which is neat but you can miss interaction timings because they're stuck kicking.

Learning the correct position you can interact with things/npc's is important  because they're not all the same and you don't want to have wasted air time that you can't interact with something because you short hopped, were in ball form, made the animation longer, didn't cover enough distance fast enough etc. Memorizing the correct distance that it takes to come out of a horizontal short hop is helpful all over the game. Walking is faster than rolling when you can interact with something within the time it would take to do a full short hop coming out of a roll horizontally. It is faster to come out of a roll just before you hit the ground if you need to do a standing jump or interact with something as opposed to short hopping.

Dec. 1/2020
So after playing this game for a long time I have realized that Piku has a way to reliably halt vertical momentum. This only applies to platforms that you can jump through to the top however. If you were to jump with A, hop out of ball form, launched by a mushroom, spring etc. Piku's feet will free moving in the air to interact with anything. If at anytime when you are mid air and you go into ball form, after you come out of ball form you will now snap to any platform you jump through saving you all the wasted time on jumps that don't line up with Piku's jump heights. For really short platforms that you can't reach with ball for you can do this trick but it requires really fast inputs.

How to do Village Skip

Kick the conductor 8 times, walk into him until he jumps, kick him as he flies up, weave under him, and jump into the air
Go into ball mode and hang out in the air until he kicks Piku

And from the current wr holder, Frostbyte1:
"I do the [strat mentioned above]. I even have a video made showcasing it. After that it really is just muscle memory and practice. Although I would say the unseen evil here is having the game eat your inputs by being to quick. I've definitely messed it up a lot because I pressed jump too soon before ending the dialogue. It's a double-edged sword though because if you aren't quick enough to cancel the text and jump then the conductor will have fallen too much and will be in an unfavourable position"

Video mentioned:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3t9f0vi-8

How to export and import save files to save/load states for practice/ILs

[quote]**EDIT: There is now a Pikuniku Save Manager application. Run that instead as it is much easier! The download can be found here: __https://github.com/Suprnova123/Pikuniku-Save-Manager/releases/tag/v1.1.1__**[/quote]

I've left the old guide here incase anybody still needs it.

For Importing save files:

Click win+r
Type RegEdit
Navigate to: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sectordub\Pikuniku
File --> Import
Download a save file, and then select it.
Open Pikuniku and change your settings since resolution, volume and language will all be edited when importing a save file.

For Exporting save files:

Click win+r
Type "RegEdit", and hit enter
Navigate to: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sectordub\Pikuniku
File --> Export
Save the file anywhere on your computer. You can import this later, if you wish, or even send it to other people!

**LIST OF SAVES** (In order from the beginning of the game, to the end)

Outside The Cave: https://bit.ly/2Tvmfl4
Gap Skip Practice: https://bit.ly/2SyP4sB
Start Of The Blue Swamp: https://bit.ly/2VD15zd
Start Of The Forest: https://bit.ly/2ND7jfz
In The Club: https://bit.ly/2GWaQVx
Finish Club Battle: https://bit.ly/2INK17M
Enter El Bunko: https://bit.ly/2VBLMGZ
Exit El Bunko: https://bit.ly/2VrWdfY
Outside Of El Bunko Tree: https://bit.ly/2C01Drt
**Bot1**: https://bit.ly/2ToYzif
Killed Bot1: https://bit.ly/2Tr0YZQ
Outside Of El Bunko Tree 2: https://bit.ly/2TrVXAq
Start Of Blue Swamp 2: https://bit.ly/2UnR4oY
Enter Rainy Valley: https://bit.ly/2tICxZu
**Bot2**: https://bit.ly/2NDoKg7
Killed Bot2: https://bit.ly/2SzyjNL
Fix The Power: https://bit.ly/2TloTtT
Power Is Back: https://bit.ly/2TcanoY
Enter The Lake: https://bit.ly/2UfwSWp
Got The Key: https://bit.ly/2Ev3HrY
Enter The Mines: https://bit.ly/2EHdNHf
Enter The Deep Mines: https://bit.ly/2EHdX1j
Find Ernie: https://bit.ly/2TqLPrB
Meet Ernie: https://bit.ly/2ILX3mc
Saved Ernie: https://bit.ly/2EJSftT
Exit Mines: https://bit.ly/2NAyqrq
**Bot3**: https://bit.ly/2NHakvq
Escape Floor 1: https://bit.ly/2BZtiJ8
Escape Floor 2: https://bit.ly/2VqbjTc
Escape Floor 3 (Laser Clip Practice): https://bit.ly/2SFJbtL
Final Battle: https://bit.ly/2GVxWeW
Credits: https://bit.ly/2INgHP1

Link To Full Folder: https://bit.ly/2IW79RU (Sort by file size to roughly order them from beginning to end)

How to install the Pikuniku Intro Skip Mod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHBD5hIM_OI

How to Villager Bounce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbRnD5mvmzQ

PiKUNiKU　any%用日本語操作解説

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rTzU-serV8

The Full Any% Strat Spreadsheet (With some 100% ones thrown in)

If you know of any other 100% strats I'm missing please put them here! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UVUfwrntSKgJk_PRGaJLp5dWyMh3no4jUYkCF0TmOBQ/edit?usp=drivesdk

Name	Author
Any% Route	KF2013 5 years ago
Co-Op Guide	Sex 4 years ago
General Movement Optimization	ExponiK 4 years ago
How to do Village Skip	b4ke_ 4 years ago
How to export and import save files to save/load states for practice/ILs	Bullet543789 4 years ago
How to install the Pikuniku Intro Skip Mod	Zarza 10 months ago
How to Villager Bounce	b4ke_ 4 years ago
PiKUNiKU　any%用日本語操作解説	kotobu 3 years ago
The Full Any% Strat Spreadsheet (With some 100% ones thrown in)	Zarza 4 years ago