Publisher: Mostly Games
Developer: Mostly Games
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: Not Rated
Peppered – or, to use its official name, PEPPERED: an existential platformer – is an outstanding game. It’s a really interesting take on platformers that blends in black humour and choices that make a difference in how the game unfolds.
And I really don’t want to say much more than that.
Part of the reason for this is that I don’t want to spoil the surprise of why, exactly, Peppered is so interesting. It’s the sort of game where if you play it exactly as the game tells you to, you’ll find it all very linear and boring. You’ll die fairly quickly, and you’ll have to start over, and you’ll find yourself on the same path over and over again. It’s only when you disregard what the game is telling you that everything opens up and the whole world becomes a lot more interesting.
In fact, this sets a pattern for the whole game. There are plenty of places in Peppered where you need to ignore your usual instincts and try something different – even if it means killing off your character. The way that Peppered plays around with player expectations is a huge part of what makes it so fun.
The other reason why I don’t want to say too much is that not only does Peppered play around with your expectations, your choices also make a big difference in how the game unfolds. So even if I have a good idea of what happened when I played the game, that doesn’t make it representative of what will happen when others do.
So without getting into any real details about Peppered, what is there to say? Probably just that the controls and the actual platforming definitely take some getting used to. Once you get the hang of how your character moves and what you need to do, it all comes together and feels fluid and natural, but up to that point, I can easily imagine some people not liking the controls very much.
But I’ll say this: it’s worth sticking around with this game and figuring out how you’re supposed to play it. Everyone’s specific experiences with Peppered will differ, but taken as a whole, I have to imagine that anyone who like platformers will find themselves well-rewarded by this game.
Mostly Games provided us with a PEPPERED: an existential platformer PC code for review purposes.
