Turbo Pudding

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Dumpling, the capybara who does naps

· The Turbo Pudding team · 4 min read

Tavo, a boy with a spiky topknot and a basket on his back, stands on a little wooden jetty at the start of Ribbon River, while Dumpling, a brown capybara with a long loaf-shaped body, a pink cheek and a little orange with a green leaf on his head, waits in the water below with a red exclamation mark in a cream bubble over his head; behind him, a huge gray stone shaped like a sleeping capybara, with a closed eye, a gentle smile, moss along its back and orange flowers on its head, lies in the river among reeds and cattails, with a white heron by the jetty posts, three teal gems in the air and leafy trees above

Every jungle needs a ferry, and the one in Jungaloo is very, very calm. Dumpling is a capybara who carries Tavo down Ribbon River in level 3. He calls everybody “sweet pea,” he never hurries, and he has firm views on waterfalls. It’s Friday, so let’s meet him.

The picture at the top is the start of the river. Tavo stands on a little wooden jetty, and Dumpling waits in the water below with a red “!” in a bubble over his head. Behind him lies a big gray stone in the shape of a sleeping capybara, with moss on its back and a tuft of orange flowers on its head, a lot like the orange on Dumpling’s.

“I know a ferry”

Tavo hears about Dumpling before he meets him. After level 2, Captain Bellows has news about the Baron’s parade: “Parade’s heading for Thunderveil Falls. The river’s the fast way — and I know a ferry.”

The ferry is Dumpling, and his first words set the pace for the whole level: “Hop on, sweet pea. No rush.” Tavo, who is chasing a parade, begs to differ: “There’s a LOT of rush!” Dumpling has an answer for that, too: “Then hold on tight to it.”

A long loaf with an orange on top

Dumpling is built to be stood on. His body is a long brown loaf that sits half in the water, with a flat back for Tavo’s feet. At the front is a blocky head with a pink cheek, a small ear and a sleepy eye under a heavy lid. He blinks about every four seconds, and under the water, his legs paddle the whole time.

On top of his head sits a little orange with a green leaf. His voice in the game is one soft, low note that slides down. The river has its own song, too: a lazy swing with hand drums and a pan flute over little kalimba ripples, and its second part is a friendship theme.

Always under your feet

On Ribbon River, the screen moves with the water, and Dumpling swims along in the middle part of it. He always tries to be right under Tavo: under his feet when he stands, under the spot where a jump will come down and under him if he falls in.

When a log floats down the river, Dumpling hops it, and Tavo gets tossed into the air. It doesn’t hurt. It just looks great.

Dumpling, a brown capybara with a long loaf-shaped body and a little orange on his head, leaps out of the river with his legs stretched out to hop a floating log, shaking off drops of water, while Tavo, tossed off his back, flies above him with his knees tucked up and a basket on his back; a white heron stands in the reeds on the left, lily pads float on the blue water, tall cattails rise in front of the log and three teal gems hang in the air over the green trees on the far bank
Searched “capybara game.” Didn’t expect the capybara to jump.

Fall in, and Dumpling hurries back, and Tavo climbs right on. That’s when you hear his catchphrase: “Oops-a-daisy. I’ve got you.” He saves it for when it counts and says it at most once every 25 seconds. On the river, a splash costs no heart. It only costs the Sun star, which goes to riders who stay dry all the way down.

Tavo has fallen into Ribbon River and swims just under the surface, with only his spiky hair and his basket poking out of the water, while Dumpling, a brown capybara with a pink cheek and an orange on his head, paddles toward him with his legs under the water and a few bubbles rising around him; a white heron stands in the reeds behind Dumpling, tall cattails grow by the far bank and a pink water lily blooms on a lily pad on the right
Typed “game where a capybara saves you.” Oops-a-daisy.

The one thing he can’t fix is being left behind. Lag too far back, and you hit the left edge of the screen: you lose a heart, a little “Keep up!” floats up, and Tavo is back on Dumpling’s back.

Rapids and landings

The river isn’t one speed. Rapids speed it up, and white foam on the water warns you about a second and a half ahead, while Dumpling calls out, “Rapids ahead — hold on, sweet pea!” Still pools slow it down again. Right after the first big rapids, Dumpling gives a short report: “Wheee.” Then, after a moment: “…That was me saying wheee.”

Along the way there are landings, places to hop ashore. Step off onto one, and the river stops and waits for you for up to 30 seconds. Dumpling stays below with the red “!” over his head, and the first time, he tells you not to worry: “Take your time. I’ll be right here. I’m always right here.”

Past the stilt village

A little way down, the river runs through a village on stilts: huts with thatched roofs on tall posts, nets drying between them, a string of round orange lanterns and children waving from the decks. One of them waves with both arms. It has a landing, too.

Tavo rides Dumpling, a brown capybara with an orange on his head, past a hut on tall wooden stilts in the stilt village; the hut has a thatched roof and woven walls with a dark door and a lit window, and a child in a red shirt stands on its deck waving with both arms; to the right, a white heron wades with a dragonfly by its beak, a tall carved wooden post with a face stands on a plank walkway with nets and round orange lanterns strung along a rope, and a waterfall with a faint rainbow shows far behind the trees
People also ask: can you ride a capybara through a village?

He doesn’t do falls

At the end of the river, the water runs up against wet cliffs and a great waterfall, and Dumpling makes his position clear: “Falls ahead. I don’t do falls, sweet pea. I do naps.”

Then a letter arrives from Princess Orla, with a P.S. that has nothing to do with the Baron: “Is Dumpling still wearing the orange?” Tavo is puzzled: “…How does she know Dumpling?” Dumpling isn’t: “Everybody knows me, sweet pea.”

Once you’ve met him, his name goes up on the Your journey screen next to the other friends Tavo makes along the way. And Dumpling isn’t done after level 3: later in the adventure, when the rain comes, he’s back to ferry Tavo again.

Ribbon River is level 3, and levels 1–3 and the first boss are free to play in your browser at jungaloo.com. The full game, all ten levels, is $4.99, paid once. More about the game is on the Jungaloo page.

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