Pineapple: A Bitter Sweet Revenge review - "Humorous story with a message"
- Story-based game all about revenge (in a sweet way)
- Bite-sized chapters with mini-games
- Entire game can be finished in one session.
I did not actually see the viral Reddit post that inspired Pineapple: A Bitter Sweet Revenge, as I don't really spend time on Reddit. As someone who does like stories (and revenge) I was all for the idea of a pineapple somehow playing a part in that.
Pineapple: A Bitter Sweet Revenge is a narrative-driven game about a school child, who has a bully. This bully is horrible to them and has been for quite some time, really getting the title of bully. Though our main character, who happens to be the player, hasn't told anyone about the bully, they've decided enough is enough!
You need to embark on a journey of revenge, all through the harmless prank of putting weird pineapples in strange places. The story itself tells you everything you need to know about your bully, as you have studied her for quite some time, so you just need to put the plan in motion.
The game itself is spread out into bite-sized chapters, that don't take too long to complete. Each chapter starts off with a mission; a new part of the revenge story. A lot of these missions are harmless and are only meant to bug your bully. That's sort of the point of Pineapple: A Bitter Sweet Revenge. You're just being slightly annoying.
The text itself is split up with mini-games, one per chapter, which are all quite different. Sometimes you will find yourself needing to hide or find a specific thing. Other times you will be taking on physics-based ball throwing. It's a mixed bag, all in the name of revenge. At the end of each chapter, a band of school kids sings a little song about what you've done and you get a generous score.
The story itself carries the game, but the stunning animals, lovely vocals, and amount of polish really make Pineapple: A Bitter Sweet Revenge worth the price on the AppStore. The story is told in a way that there are tons of funny moments, but it's also wrapped up with a serious message at the end about bullying and revenge.
Pineapple: A Bitter Sweet Revenge review - "Humorous story with a message"
Pineapple: A Bitter Sweet Revenge can be played in an evening, giving you a new take on a viral Reddit story, that comes with its own message. It's also fantastic in the level of polish, providing for a very fun game to play.
Jupiter Hadley
Jupiter is a prolific indie game journalist with a focus on smaller indie gems. She covers thousands of game jams and indie games on her YouTube channel, letting every game have a moment in the spotlight. She runs indiegamejams.com, a calendar of all of the game jams going on in the world, and judges many jams and events. You can find her on Twitter as @Jupiter_Hadley