incredibox sprunki phase 3 reimagined
"Reimagined" Sounds Fancy, But Let's Be Real...
Phase 3. The "classic" one. Everyone who's spent more than five minutes in the Sprunki universe has probably messed with Phase 3. So when I saw "Phase 3 Reimagined," my first thought was: "How many times can we remake the same thing before it becomes ridiculous?"
Turns out, at least one more time. And you know what? This one's kinda fun in a "what if we colored outside the lines" way.
The colors are... different. Muted, almost. Less of that eye-searing neon from some of the other mods. It gives the whole thing a sort of "indie game that would be featured in an art gallery" vibe. Or maybe I'm overthinking it. Maybe the creator just really likes earth tones.
I showed this to my nephew (he's 14, thinks he's a music producer because he can use GarageBand). His review: "It's chill." High praise from Gen Z, I suppose. He did spend like 20 minutes making something that actually had a recognizable beat, which is more than I can say for my attempts.
What's Actually Different Here?
Okay, so "reimagined" could mean anything from "completely rebuilt from scratch" to "we changed the font." This seems to be somewhere in the middle. The core is still the same Phase 3 you (might) know and love, but:
- The character designs are sleeker. Less cartoony, more... abstract? One of them looks like a floating geometric shape with eyes. Not sure what that's about, but it makes a decent snare sound.
- The sound palette feels more cohesive. Like someone actually thought about how all the sounds would work together instead of just throwing in every noise they could find. There's a consistency to it that's lacking in some of the more chaotic mods.
- The UI is cleaner. Less clutter. I appreciate that. My middle-aged eyes don't need more tiny icons to squint at.
My personal favorite addition: there's a character that makes this really subtle click-track sound. It's almost inaudible on its own, but when you layer it with the bass and melody characters, it adds this nice texture in the background. Like the musical equivalent of finding $5 in an old jacket pocket—small but satisfying.
That Time I Tried To Make "Real" Music (Spoiler: Failed)
I had this grand plan to recreate the opening beat of a famous hip-hop track. Made it about 10 seconds in before realizing: 1) I have no actual musical talent, and 2) Sprunki characters don't care about your artistic ambitions.
What I ended up with sounded like if a robot tried to beatbox while having a software glitch. But you know what? It had character. It was weird and off-beat and definitely not what I intended, but I kinda liked it. Saved it with a filename I'll never remember.
Q: Is this better than the original Phase 3?
A: "Better" is subjective. Is a fancy gourmet burger "better" than a classic fast-food one? Sometimes you want the original, sometimes you want the artisanal version. This is the artisanal Sprunki. Whether that's an improvement depends entirely on your mood and how pretentious you're feeling that day.
Q: How hard is it to make something that doesn't sound terrible?
A: Easier than in some of the more chaotic mods, actually. The sounds here seem to have been selected to work together harmoniously (or at least not clash horribly). Even random dragging tends to produce something semi-coherent. "Good" is still up to you, but "not ear-bleeding" is pretty achievable.
The "I Can't Believe I Noticed This" Detail
There's this tiny animation when you remove a character from a slot—it sort of dissolves into particles. It serves absolutely no functional purpose. Doesn't affect the sound. Doesn't help you make better music. It's just... there. A little visual flourish.
And I love it. It's those unnecessary details that show someone actually cared about the player experience beyond just the mechanics. Or maybe I'm reading too much into a particle effect. But it's nice.
Compare that to that other mod everyone's talking about—the one with like 50 characters and screen-shaking effects. That one feels like sensory overload. This feels more considered. More... intentional.
Not that I'm saying it's objectively better. Just different. Like comparing a carefully arranged bouquet to a wildflower field. Both have their place.
Who's This Actually For?
If you're new to Sprunki and want to dip your toes in without being overwhelmed, this might actually be a decent starting point. It's approachable. The sounds are (mostly) pleasant. There's no pressure to create a masterpiece.
If you're a Phase 3 veteran looking for something radically different, you might be disappointed. This is an evolution, not a revolution. It's like visiting your hometown after they've done some gentrification—recognizable, but cleaner and with fewer rough edges.
Personally, I keep coming back to that click-track character. There's something hypnotic about it. I made a loop with just that and one of the bass sounds and let it play for like 10 minutes while I answered emails. Worked surprisingly well as background noise. Better than the lo-fi hip hop radio everyone's always listening to, anyway.
Final thought: It's 2:37 PM as I write this, and I just realized I haven't eaten lunch. The game's good enough to make me forget basic human needs, I guess. That's either a compliment or a concerning statement about my priorities.
4 out of 5 geometric shapes with eyes. Loses half a point because I still can't make anything that sounds like actual music, but that's probably a me problem.
