''Pretentious Game'' is a

puzzle-platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

designed by independent Filipino studio Keybol. It is a satirical take on puzzle games in which poetic hints guide players to unite two lovers. The first chapter was written for

Ludum Dare Ludum Dare (LD; , meaning 'to give a game', also referenced as LDJAM) is a game jam competition. It was founded by Geoff Howland and was first held in April 2002. It is currently run by Mike Kasprzak, who has been part of the team since the be ...

's 2012

game jam A game jam is an event where participants try to make a video game from scratch. Depending on the format, participants might work independently, or in teams. The event duration usually ranges from 24 to 72 hours. Participants are generally program ...

, and the series of five chapters was subsequently released for PC and mobile devices.

Gameplay

Players lead a blue square to his love, a pink square. Hints in the form of poetry describe their story and guide players through the puzzles.

Development

''Pretentious Game'' was written for

's 2012

. After an unrelated Flash game, ''I Saw Her Standing There'', received positive reviews, a fellow game developer called it pretentious. Inspired by both that game and the comment, Bari Silvestre made his own game that followed what he believed to be the rules for pretentious video games: minimal graphics, a love story, narrative text, and dramatic music. Silvestre described it as having been "made to mock the art games".

Reception

The game shares similarities with ''

Thomas Was Alone ''Thomas Was Alone'' is a puzzle-platform game created by Mike Bithell, originally released as a Flash-based browser game in October 2010. The game was expanded and released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in July 2012. It has subsequently been ...

'', and some people perceived it as a parody of that game. Silvestre said the similarities were coincidental. Reviewing the PC version, Jenni Lada of '' Technology Tell'' wrote, "It's nowhere near as good as ''Thomas Was Alone'', but is charmingly reminiscent."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, a

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, rated the iOS version 77/100 based on four reviews. Grant Howitt of '' Pocket Gamer'' rated the iPad version 8/10 stars and wrote, "It's very clever on a lot of different levels – narrative, gameplay, challenge – and it deserves your attention." Also reviewing the iOS version, Jeffrey deMelo of ''

TouchArcade ''TouchArcade'' is a mobile video game website that launched in 2008. Arnold Kim of ''MacRumors'' worked on the site and its editor-in-chief was Eli Hodapp from 2009 to 2019. ''TouchArcade'' has been recognized as one of the best mobile game ...

'' rated it 4/5 stars and wrote, "There's something for a specific type of gamer here, one who enjoys something a tad different and ... well, pretentious." Writing at 148apps.com, Lucy Ingram rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Concealing a deeper meaning, ''Pretentious Game'' is an enjoyable platformer with a touching message."

Legacy

In May 2016, Keybol released a spinoff to the original ''Pretentious Game'' called ''Another Pretentious Game''. In ''Another Pretentious Game'', there are 25 levels in which instead of moving a square, you draw lines to connect multiple circles.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.pretentiousgame.com/ 2012 video games Android (operating system) games BulkyPix games IOS games Parody video games Puzzle-platformers Satirical video games Single-player video games Video games developed in the Philippines Windows games Keybol Games games