Punch Club is a new grinder/fighter game first released for PC via Steam but has now made its way to Android and iOS gamers The game includes an engaging storyline that begins with the death of the main character's father and thrusts him into training to be best fighter he can be. Because vengeance.
While at first it may look like a simple beat em’ up action game, there’s actually a lot going on with Punch Club , and it requires strategy and good management skills to make any progress. You have to keep your fighters mood and energy levels up to train and fight well, while also trying to make enough money to afford food and training materials. There are multiple branching storylines and side missions that can lead you to different outcomes throughout the game. We’ve been playing Punch Club a few days now and have come up with a handful of beginner tips and tricks to guide you through the early gameplay. As we move through the game, we’ll add additional guides along the way.
Punch Club Beginner’s Guide To Getting Food And Money, Increasing Skills And Winning Fights
Ok, so when you first start Punch Club , you’re teenage amateur fighter, trying to live up to your father’s memory. One day, as the dawn finds you crashed on your couch, you get a phone call from a mentor, Frank, whose life was once saved by your father. He encourages you to get a job and get on with your life. It motivates you enough to get moving and in the next few moments the game takes you through the motions of working out in your garage and eating some breakfast. Working out and eating are two things you’ll spend a lot of time doing in the game – along with working at the construction site or pizza place delivering pizzas.
PUNCH CLUB TIP #1: Skip working out at home and opt for the gym - Your first workout may take place in your garage but it doesn’t mean it should only take place there. In fact, I’d avoid working out at home altogether unless you’re totally dead on cash. Working out at home on the mat is slow because it’s a balanced instead of focused training activity. This makes it impossible to focus on a particular skill. You also can only train a certain amount of time before you burn out and then you have to wait a half hour or so to do it again. There’s an option to purchase equipment for your home, but it’s really not worth it. The equipment is expensive and you get mugged most of the time when you try to go to the store to buy it. Though it costs $10 every time you work out at the gym, you can work out as long as you have enough strength and energy and the results you get are tuned to the specific skills you want to train. Plus, when your character gets burnt out he can move to one of the other pieces of equipment there making gym training overall more efficient.
PUNCH CLUB TIP #2: Don’t carry too much cash around - It might be tempting to deliver lots of pizzas and accrue tons of money at once, but anything over $125 is asking for someone to mug you. A lot of those muggers can be pretty tough and your chances of beating them are small. Plus it completely sucks to lose so much money you worked so hard for.
PUNCH CLUB TIP #3: Don’t Take The Bus, Just Walk - Ok, there is an option to take a bus for a few bucks or walk to your destination but I’ve yet to see a situation where a bus seemed necessary. It takes little to no energy and barely a few more seconds of time to walk, so save some extra Punch Club money by walking.
So after your first quick scuffle with a bad guy on the street – which you lose – you realize you definitely need to train harder. The upside is you meet Mick, who hooks you up with a gym to train at and the name of a good grocer. He’ll even let you eat a little food with him if you get low on funds.
PUNCH CLUB TIP #4: Don’t go to Mick for food unless you are desperate - While Mick is willing to help you out a little, eventually his kindness runs thin. Sure, he’ll give you a meal early in the game if your money is lower than $10, which fills your hunger meter halfway, but he’ll only do that about 4-5 times before letting you know you should be standing on your own two feet.
PUNCH CLUB TIP #5: Different jobs have different benefits - Early in the game you get a job working construction, but you also have the option to meet the local pizza joint owner and start delivering pizzas for him. You can unlock the pizza store location and meet the owner after you visit the grocer. The construction and pizza jobs pay on a different scales and have different benefits. Delivering pizza gets you $30 a delivery and accrue some health points while delivering but lose energy and food points. The nice thing about working there is you can buy a pizza while you're working if you get hungry. Working the construction site has benefits as well. You make $50 a job and you build some strength and stamina while doing it, though you lose energy and food points. I found I worked mainly at the construction site unless time was an issue. The pizza delivery job takes less time or money to travel to so if you're short on either, it's your best bet.
PUNCH CLUB TIP #6: Meat - it’s what’s for dinner - Pizza tastes great and so does soda, but buying meat packs the largest punch for energy. It’s a little expensive but delivers more energy per dollar than any other source of food so once you start working, stock up on that as much as possible.
Ok so you’ve gotten some supplies at the grocer and a gig delivering pizzas. It’s been a busy day. You probably need to head home and eat and rest. Your training mission is before you. When you wake up, you probably eat a bit and then there’s a decision to make. Train or earn money?
PUNCH CLUB TIP #7: Balance eating, working, and training by keeping an eye on your stats - Making any progress in Punch Club definitely requires management skills. If you want to start building your skill as a fighter you have to sign up for rookie fights at the gym. To do well in those fights you have to train. To train you need energy from sleep and food. To get those things requires earning money. You have to figure out your own system, but once you sign up for a fight, you have about two days till it happens. If your sleep and food levels are high and you’ve got some meals in the fridge, then it’s good to head to the gym and work out till you can’t work till you are too tired and weak to continue. I have to stress making sure you have either food or money though before you head to the gym because you will need to eat and sleep afterwards. If you drain your energy you can’t work, and with no food or money, you’re definitely screwed.
Here’s the training cycle I have used which works out nicely:
· Sleep and eat till energy and hunger meter are at least 2/3 full.
· Go to pizza place. Deliver 2-3 pizzas or till your energy is gone.
· Go to grocer and buy all the food you can, but save at least $10
· Go home and eat and sleep till energy hunger meter is ¾ to all the way full.
· Head to the gym and workout till you are nearly dead.
· Repeat.
PUNCH CLUB TIP #8: Train some every day but mainly just before a fight - Just like people in real life, if you don’t train, you lose points off your agility, strength and stamina levels so make sure training is a regular part of your schedule or routine. I have found I particularly like to train just a little before a fight because it may bump a particular skill up just enough to help out. Just make sure not to let your energy levels dip too low before a fight or you won’t perform well!
PUNCH CLUB TIP #9: Hone your training to specific skills to increase your chances of winning fights - When you train at first you might be tempted to try to train all your skills to the same levels but in the long run it’s not terribly manageable. Focus mainly on one skill – strength, agility or stamina – with possibly a close second, or a balance between the lesser two. As you train to higher levels and start winning fights you’ll earn skills points that let you unlock and buy new abilities like varied kicks, punching or blocking techniques. Focus the abilities you add on the specific skills you are training. If you are training high in agility, buy new moves that require agility.
These tips should be enough to get you moving in the right direction with Punch Club . Stay tuned for more upcoming tips on training in the path of the Tiger, Bear and Turtle, completing side missions and more. If you have some awesome beginner tips that have helped you out in Punch Club , please share them in the comments below. If we like them, we may even feature them in our next article.
