The Gunk is a narrative adventure where you play one sister of a pair of space explorers struggling for resources, who find a new planet with new alien wildlife. You play by traversing the environment sucking up toxic waste, harvesting materials, solving puzzles and battling enemies. It stands out for its sibling story of survival and the gloopy gunk parasite you need to free the world from.

As you explore the alien planet you discover all sorts of environments: canyons, jungles and caves, but all of these have been corrupted by a black slime-like parasite gunk. Using a vacuum-like tool (reminiscent of Super Mario Sunshine) you clear areas of gunk, revealing healthy life underneath. There are many types of enemies that have formed from the gunk, from small creatures to large beasts. As you progress you discover a mysterious ancient civilisation and work to save the planet from the polluting goo.

As you remove the gunk and clean up each area, wildlife thrives and you can then scan the environment to learn about the world and what to do next. From the developers behind Steamworld Heist, it offers a strong character-based narrative with scenic landscapes but retains a focus on fun and tight exploration and collection gameplay.