Paper Monsters

Crescent Moon Games published Paper Monsters in 2012 as its second title, and the Android version reached the Amazon Appstore in July 2012 at 99 cents before arriving on Google Play. It is a 2D side-scrolling platformer set in a 3D world built from paper, cardboard and cotton balls, which gave it a handmade look that stood out among the mobile platformers of the time.

What Is Paper Monsters

You guide a small cardboard hero through levels made like a crafts project, jumping between platforms, stomping paper enemies and collecting bonuses. Movement runs left to right as in classic console platformers, while the camera and scenery are fully 3D, so layers of paper hills and cardboard buildings slide past in the background. Secret areas and hiding spots reward players who search the edges of each stage.

Power-Ups And Controls In Paper Monsters

Two power-ups change how levels play: an underwater ability that lets the hero swim through flooded sections and a flying ability for airborne stretches. Touch controls were a talking point. Crescent Moon offered two schemes, a floating joystick that appears where your thumb lands and a classic fixed touch pad. Most players found the floating joystick easier for precise jumps, though reviews still said the controls needed improvement. The original soundtrack was another highlight, and the launch notes recommended playing with headphones.

Worlds And Levels

Early Android builds listed 16 levels across four worlds, and later listings for the game advertised 28 levels across six worlds, along with a bonus dash mode built for high scores. The difference reflects updates and re-releases over the years. Each world sticks to a theme of paper materials, which keeps the art style consistent from the first stage to the last.

Levels are short enough to finish in a few minutes, and the difficulty climbs gently, so the game never asks for the pixel-perfect jumping that older console platformers demanded. Collecting every bonus and finding each secret area is where the real challenge lies for players who want more than a quick run to the exit. Enemies are simple paper creatures, and the main threats come from gaps, water and moving platforms rather than from combat.

Re-Releases: GameClub And Paper Monsters Recut

The game had more than one life on Android. Crescent Moon released an expanded version called Paper Monsters Recut under its own listing, and the original app was later updated and re-issued as Paper Monsters – GameClub when the GameClub subscription service took on a number of older premium mobile games. The original package used on this page belongs to that first release and its GameClub update.

Is Paper Monsters Still On Google Play?

Neither the original Paper Monsters nor Paper Monsters Recut is currently listed on Google Play. The GameClub edition helped keep the game playable longer than most 2012 releases, but it has since dropped out of the store as well. Old builds were made for Android 2.2 and later, and devices from that era ran them smoothly, whereas current phones may not install them.

Paper Monsters Suits Fans Of Craft-Style Platformers

Fans of LittleBigPlanet or Yoshi’s craft-themed platformers will see the appeal right away, since the paper and cardboard art carries much of the charm. It is a short, gentle game with quick levels, which made it a good fit for phones, and it remains one of the better-remembered early releases from Crescent Moon Games, the publisher later known for games such as Wraithborne and The Deer God.