The Henry Stickmin Collection

About

The Henry Stickmin Collection is a series of flash video games about the adventures of thief Henry Stickmin as he attempts to break out of imprisonments, commit robberies and assists the government in bringing down a crime syndicate. Originally created and published by independent developer PuffballsUnited for entertainment websites Newgrounds and StickPage, in 2020 the complete series was released on Steam together with a new installment, Completing the Mission.

History

On December 12th, 2007, indie game developer PuffballsUnited joined the entertainment website Newgrounds.^[1] On December 16th, PuffballsUnited uploaded^[2] his first flash video game Crossing the Pit in which a player could use one out of eight options to attempt to cross a pit. The flash game is considered to be the prototype of the future Henry Stickmin series. On December 26th, 2007, PuffballsUnited posted^[3] a flash film Operation Infiltration in which a robber named Dudie steals secret data from evil Toppat Clan.

The Henry Stickmin Collection officially started with the release of the first flash game in the series, Breaking the Bank on August 27th, 2008. The game was uploaded by PuffballsUnited to Newgrounds^[4] and StickPage.^[5] The game included a single interactive screen, with the player having to choose one out of six available tools to get inside a vault. On Newgrounds, the game received over 1.8 million views in twelve years.

Following the success of Breaking the Bank PuffballsUnited continued the series with releasing Escaping the Prison (2010), Stealing the Diamond (2011), Infiltrating the Airship (2013) and Fleeing the Complex (2015). All games achieved major success on Newgrounds, with each of the games being ranking one of the best flash games each year. Collectively, the series garnered over 10.3 million views on Newgrounds as of August 2020.

On May 22nd, 2018, @PuffballsUnited announced the development of Completing the Mission, the final and episode in the series. The full The Henry Stickmin Collection, including the new episode, was released on Steam on August 7th, 2020.^[6]

Gameplay

In the series, the player assumes control of thief Henry Stickmin, guiding him through a number of interactive screens by choosing one of the offered options. The games in the series have non-linear plots with multiple endings and fail screens. In the Steam edition of The Henry Stickmin Collection, the endings that player achieves in Infiltrating the Airship and Fleeing the Complex affect the plot of the final chapter Completing the Mission in a major way.

The series contains multiple references to various internet memes, video games, films and other pop culture phenomena.

Reception

The series has received universal acclaim from players, with the games within the series having an average rating of 4.72 stars out of five on Newground. On Steam,^[6] the series maintained Overwhelmingly Positive rating (99% positive) rating with over 3,800 votes submitted as of August 20th, 2020.

Fandom

Following the release of the game, it gained significant popularity online, with multiple notable YouTubers and streamers playing the game in the following weeks. For example, on August 8th and 14th, 2020, Markiplier posted^[7][8] playthroughs of Completing the Mission, with the videos gaining over 9.8 million and 6 million views in two weeks and one week, respectively.

Additionally, the games gained significant popularity in memes online across Reddit, Twitter, Instagram and iFunny. For example, on August 10th, 2020, iFunny^[9] user posted an UNRAVEL meme based on a scene from Completing the Mission that accumulated over 40,000 smiles in ten days (shown below).

Among the memes related to the game, memes based on the Distraction Dance from Fleeing the Complex gained particular popularity.

Related Memes

Distraction Dance

Distraction Dance, also known as You Have Been Distracted, refers to a dance which Henry Stickmin uses to distract two guards in Fleeing the Complex. In August 2020, the dance gained popularity as source material for memes, including bait-and-switch videos, as a part of the larger The Henry Stickmin Collection meme trend.

Search Interest

External References