Mommy's Best Games once again delivers an indie of insane proportions. A grotesque game of gluttonous gobbling. This time it is centered around a junction of connected space stations, the Cake King who is the ruler of them all, and his daughter to be wed, Princess Bow. For whatever reason the king decides it's high time his daughter, who happens to be a pig, gets married. To find a suitable suitor he plans on hosting a series of challenges. Learning of his plans Princess Bow decides to enter the contest herself in disguise to keep from having her dreams of getting out, and exploring the universe to be dashed to bits. And thus it is through these disguises that she gains abilities that will help her better suction tennis balls like a Hoover vacuum cleaner as she attempts to collect them all in order to win the pearls that it takes to advance to the next part of the competition. As you will find out this is done by taking on clam challenges, winning medals for timed completion, and objective based goals bested. The competition along the way is varied, and the challenges challenging. You'll find Princess Bow facing simple ball collecting challenges, racing against the clock to collect balls, and even fighting for survival in challenges filled with bacon letting hazards that will keep Princess Bow from collecting what needs to be collected. Supposing you are able to help her through though she will come out on top as the victor, and not be made to marry her life away.
This game is all about traversing the space stations, and their hubs. Ultimately facing off in clam challenges to be the suitor for the princess. The space stations that you'll encounter within Pig Eat Ball as Princess Bow each have four hubs of clam inclusive challenges. There's a main hub, a gamma hub, an alpha hub, and a beta hub. Not particularly in that order. Your goal in each is to first locate the clams, talk to them, and start the challenges. Each clam has a certain number of challenges that will vary according to end goal. Sometimes it'll be a straight up collect the balls challenge while other times you'll have the added task of beating the timer, not getting hit, facing a boss, or battling with NPC characters in wacky side-challenges such as making sammiches where the one who comes out on top wins. Also in the space station hub areas lies hidden power-ups, and disguises that can be collected to aid in said challenges. Power-ups are single use items that include things like shields, ball magnetism, extra hearts, and extra time. That along with the disguises which effect how Princess Bow handles the ball collecting will determine the advantages or disadvantages you might have. The disguises in particular play on the barfing, and suction functions of Princess Bow.
Princess Bow, herself, is moved along with the Left Thumbstick. She sucks by default, but by pressing, and holding SQUARE she can hold her breath, and slow down to skirt around hazards. Along with that suction function Princess Bow also sucks as a means to carry key items or pick up enemies. Both of which can be shot out in the same way that forced barfing happens, via CIRCLE. The Princess can, if need be, manually projectile vomit collected balls as well by pressing the previously mentioned CIRCLE button. Some levels will require her to do so if she swells up in size, and cannot get through a narrow entry point. It should be noted that the more balls she sucks the bigger she swells. Certain circumstances will also have her either sucking or barfing more strategically to get the balls to a certain area where they can all be collected more efficiently. As far as getting hit goes if Princess Bow gets hit with a stomach full of balls a green pie counter will appear on her back as a sort of countdown signaling when she will barf them all back up. The barf balls will be slimy green for a while, and can be collected, but will risk the Princess barfing them back up. Barfing up balls also doubles as a means to dispatch enemies in a rather vile manner. This can include the puzzles found at the space stations that require you getting some of the NPCs grossed out, and vomiting themselves.
Learning the best route, and way to collect the balls is the key to winning the gold medals. Each individual challenge, as it were has three different medals that can be earned ranging from bronze for third place to gold for first place. Silver being second place. Supposing you get all gold medals in the clam's challenges within a given area you will have a chance to face a golden clam, and get a special disguise making the challenges at hand easier. When you've completed all the challenges within a single clam you'll be rewarded with a pearl regardless of the medals you get. Pearls are required to open up access to new areas on the space station. Making them the main priority above all else.
As a side option to the main campaign you'll find in place a party mode for up to four players, or three bots, and one player. It allows the player to play through the themed challenges found in each of the five main space stations as well as take part in a custom playlist where you can select up to four stages from any of the space stations. The main goal in party mode is for players to compete for first place by battling out the various objectives. This will score the players points, and when the playlist is fully completed the player or bot with the top 3 scores will earn 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectfully. The 4th place is for inclusion, and sympathy, I suppose. As far as themed objectives go you'll find competitive gameplay in the form of a beer mug smashing contest, a contest to blow up toilets with cherry bombs, a contest to hatch bird eggs, and a contest to pick up ingredients and make sammiches, among other things. Each player will play as a different color flying pig including Princess Bow, Lief, Inja, and another I can't quite remember. It's a little something extra for those who want something fun to do outside of the main game mode. For those looking to tweak the game's visuals, and soundtrack to their liking there's also a settings menu just for that. You can, if you want, lower the barfing sound effects at the main menu as well as other sound, and visual options for a more tolerable, and enjoyable experience.
The Presentation ...
Pig Eat Ball is a top down experience reminiscent of retro games gone by. In it's puzzle-like setup it pays homage to oldschool arcade style experiences like Pac-Man, The Adventures of Lolo, and Toe Jam & Earl. It's a proper puzzle game with light RPG elements, and a twin-stick shooter style setup. It feature gross out mechanics, barfing sounds, and actual in-game projectile vomiting making it a game for those who don't mind some crude humor in their puzzle solving adventures. The characters, and levels harbor a somewhat simplistic, but vividly colorful pixel construction. A palette of vibrant colors that's complimentary to the sci-fi theme, and a proper nod to the retro games most of us have enjoyed at some point.
The Verdict ...
I found Pig Eat Ball to be both interesting, and challenging. It was definitely unique in the way of mechanics, and story. I think it's the kind of game that retro enthusiasts will enjoy, especially those who are into the more arcade-like puzzle games. It's not going to be a game that appeals to everyone, but for what it is I think it was done well. The puzzles themselves were well crafted, and varied enough not to seem repetitive in nature. Each puzzle getting progressively more difficult as you advance. They'll definitely have you thinking it through, and sometimes playing multiple times in an attempt to perfect your playthrough. If you fancy a proper puzzler with a retro theme, and gross out mechanics don't miss out on this budget priced indie!
This game is all about traversing the space stations, and their hubs. Ultimately facing off in clam challenges to be the suitor for the princess. The space stations that you'll encounter within Pig Eat Ball as Princess Bow each have four hubs of clam inclusive challenges. There's a main hub, a gamma hub, an alpha hub, and a beta hub. Not particularly in that order. Your goal in each is to first locate the clams, talk to them, and start the challenges. Each clam has a certain number of challenges that will vary according to end goal. Sometimes it'll be a straight up collect the balls challenge while other times you'll have the added task of beating the timer, not getting hit, facing a boss, or battling with NPC characters in wacky side-challenges such as making sammiches where the one who comes out on top wins. Also in the space station hub areas lies hidden power-ups, and disguises that can be collected to aid in said challenges. Power-ups are single use items that include things like shields, ball magnetism, extra hearts, and extra time. That along with the disguises which effect how Princess Bow handles the ball collecting will determine the advantages or disadvantages you might have. The disguises in particular play on the barfing, and suction functions of Princess Bow.
Princess Bow, herself, is moved along with the Left Thumbstick. She sucks by default, but by pressing, and holding SQUARE she can hold her breath, and slow down to skirt around hazards. Along with that suction function Princess Bow also sucks as a means to carry key items or pick up enemies. Both of which can be shot out in the same way that forced barfing happens, via CIRCLE. The Princess can, if need be, manually projectile vomit collected balls as well by pressing the previously mentioned CIRCLE button. Some levels will require her to do so if she swells up in size, and cannot get through a narrow entry point. It should be noted that the more balls she sucks the bigger she swells. Certain circumstances will also have her either sucking or barfing more strategically to get the balls to a certain area where they can all be collected more efficiently. As far as getting hit goes if Princess Bow gets hit with a stomach full of balls a green pie counter will appear on her back as a sort of countdown signaling when she will barf them all back up. The barf balls will be slimy green for a while, and can be collected, but will risk the Princess barfing them back up. Barfing up balls also doubles as a means to dispatch enemies in a rather vile manner. This can include the puzzles found at the space stations that require you getting some of the NPCs grossed out, and vomiting themselves.
Learning the best route, and way to collect the balls is the key to winning the gold medals. Each individual challenge, as it were has three different medals that can be earned ranging from bronze for third place to gold for first place. Silver being second place. Supposing you get all gold medals in the clam's challenges within a given area you will have a chance to face a golden clam, and get a special disguise making the challenges at hand easier. When you've completed all the challenges within a single clam you'll be rewarded with a pearl regardless of the medals you get. Pearls are required to open up access to new areas on the space station. Making them the main priority above all else.
As a side option to the main campaign you'll find in place a party mode for up to four players, or three bots, and one player. It allows the player to play through the themed challenges found in each of the five main space stations as well as take part in a custom playlist where you can select up to four stages from any of the space stations. The main goal in party mode is for players to compete for first place by battling out the various objectives. This will score the players points, and when the playlist is fully completed the player or bot with the top 3 scores will earn 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectfully. The 4th place is for inclusion, and sympathy, I suppose. As far as themed objectives go you'll find competitive gameplay in the form of a beer mug smashing contest, a contest to blow up toilets with cherry bombs, a contest to hatch bird eggs, and a contest to pick up ingredients and make sammiches, among other things. Each player will play as a different color flying pig including Princess Bow, Lief, Inja, and another I can't quite remember. It's a little something extra for those who want something fun to do outside of the main game mode. For those looking to tweak the game's visuals, and soundtrack to their liking there's also a settings menu just for that. You can, if you want, lower the barfing sound effects at the main menu as well as other sound, and visual options for a more tolerable, and enjoyable experience.
The Presentation ...
Pig Eat Ball is a top down experience reminiscent of retro games gone by. In it's puzzle-like setup it pays homage to oldschool arcade style experiences like Pac-Man, The Adventures of Lolo, and Toe Jam & Earl. It's a proper puzzle game with light RPG elements, and a twin-stick shooter style setup. It feature gross out mechanics, barfing sounds, and actual in-game projectile vomiting making it a game for those who don't mind some crude humor in their puzzle solving adventures. The characters, and levels harbor a somewhat simplistic, but vividly colorful pixel construction. A palette of vibrant colors that's complimentary to the sci-fi theme, and a proper nod to the retro games most of us have enjoyed at some point.
The Verdict ...
I found Pig Eat Ball to be both interesting, and challenging. It was definitely unique in the way of mechanics, and story. I think it's the kind of game that retro enthusiasts will enjoy, especially those who are into the more arcade-like puzzle games. It's not going to be a game that appeals to everyone, but for what it is I think it was done well. The puzzles themselves were well crafted, and varied enough not to seem repetitive in nature. Each puzzle getting progressively more difficult as you advance. They'll definitely have you thinking it through, and sometimes playing multiple times in an attempt to perfect your playthrough. If you fancy a proper puzzler with a retro theme, and gross out mechanics don't miss out on this budget priced indie!
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