Pretentious Game

a mix of clever and cheesy, and i love it when an artist isn't afraid to be earnest like this. not the greatest gameplay, but it requires imagination to activate it.

The game is simple, yet comprehensive to the extent that it has a meaningful story about romance. A story about 4 people (2 Male, 2 Female) dealing with a cycle about winning and losing something important from each other. This is a good game for those who wish to see love in a beautiful and ugly way.

I guess I was pretty moved by the first chapter, but as the later chapters developed it wasn't as touching as I thought it'd be (in terms of the story-telling), so the game turned out more like a puzzle game in the end.


The idea is creative and original. I liked the minimalism, but frankly, I didn't quite enjoy getting stuck at puzzle-solving. I wouldn't recommend this if it weren't for the first chapter.

Chapter 1 is brilliant. Following chapters get worse and worse. I do not enjoy chapter 4 at all. Won't play Chapter 5.
Recommend only if it is on sale.

The "move beyond borders" level in chapter 5 was enough to merit a thumbs up. But I am curious after reading other reviews as to what kind of person could cry while playing this game, or any game at all? I honestly want to know because I would love to have that kind of experience and would gladly try to cry if someone could teach me how.

Overall: 6/10

Good points:

- Presence of a storyline adds some depth to the game
- Nice idea to use text to both reveal the story and hints to complete the level
- Nice minimalistic style and melodic music


Bad points:

- Too expensive at full price
- A little too pretentious at times!
- Very basic platforming
- The last couple of chapters feel a little forced and the mechanics can get irritating

Pretentious Game is an indie puzzle platformer. The game’s aesthetic is incredibly minimalistic, reminding me strongly of “Thomas Was Alone”, and I initially thought the game would be a simple go from A to B across numerous levels with increasing levels of infuriating difficulty. I quickly realised however that beneath the simple art style there is some depth (and pretentiousness!) to Pretentious Game.

The game has been released in chapters, with 5 released so far and apparently more to come. You play as a movable square block that has to somehow get to the opposite side of the screen. How you do this is (generally) revealed by lines of text accompanying each ‘level’. These helpful hints also reveal the plot of the game, hence the hidden depth I referred to earlier. Accompanying your playthrough is soft, simple, melodic music of a slightly depressing tone. While the music is nice I also think it’s potentially a bit too simple and it would have been nice if each chapter had a bit more music variety to it.

In terms of the storyline I would say that, while I do like the clever way in which it is told, it’s a bit too cliché for my liking, with the first chapter literally being a boy-meets-girl affair and the plot doesn’t really get that much more innovative later on. Having said that, I did find myself keen to find out what the next line of text would say and hoping that the blocks found a happy ending. It didn’t take too long to find out that ending though because the game really is very short and I’m guessing it won’t get much longer even with additional chapters.

Overall: I enjoyed playing through Pretentious Game but I feel a little more effort on an innovative storyline and a bit more time making more interesting platforming would have made the game much better. Despite that, I think it’s well worth picking up in the sale if you want to while away an hour or so playing a game with some simple fun.

In the late 70's...Pay 20 dollars for an atari adventure game about a heroic square.

In 2017, pay 6 dollars for a game about a depressed square.



Profit :D

Such a lovely little game! Honestly, the first chapter is by far the best. It's just a few minutes, but that's all it takes.
I remember that game being browser based some years ago. But It's even better on steam, because here can support whoever made this gem by paying so little for such big feels.

Second time playing, i knew the story. Cried anyway.

To me it's well worth the 5 Bucks. But be aware that it is a VERY short experience since only the first chapter of the game really shines.

Pretentious Game is a clever 2D puzzle platformer that tells a story about love and loss with a pretty minimalist visual. It's good as a time filler: you can finish the entire story in less than an hour. A short but captivating experience.

I felt quite emotional when I played this. Going "aww" and "oh no..."
That said, this is a pretty neat game that I played twice just to let the whole story sink in.

Pros;
+ Easy to play. You learn what you need to do very quickly.
+ Puzzles are relatively simple. The levels only become different in small steps. The text/phrases you get every level are enough to hint what you need to do.
+ Some of the puzzles are very clever and brilliantly thought up. This game doesn't only make you use your arrowkeys, but also makes you experiment, use the mouse, the mute button, etc. The game mechanism really enhances the strength of the story and doesn't hold it back.
+ The story is told in a minimalistic art style which made it easy to understand.
+ And the story is pretty good. It was a bit simple, but made me very emotional because of it.

Cons;
- I had a lot of difficulty at the (hidden?) fourth chapter that featured the two children. This was because of a jump trick you needed to do several times in a row. Needless to say, it made me suffer immensely and I never want to play that chapter ever again.
- The game is short (but sweet!). I replayed the first three chapters and managed to entertain myself for 101 minutes total. Sometimes I wish the game was a bit longer.
- I really hate how sudden the car scenes were and the (short) noises that came with it. I am a very sensitive gamer, so noises like that and sudden motions make me very uncomfortable. It was a bit of a jumpscare for me.

So is this game worth your money? Depends on if you think the price of the game is worth around 1~2 hours of gaming entertainment. For me it was worth it. Despite all the negativity in my review, I am very happy to have played this and the story will probably stick in my mind for a week or so.

I think this game is great for the casual gamer. Please give it a try if you can.

It's a flimsy little game that will take you no time at all to beat, yet it can hit you like a sledgehammer and leave you sobbing in a pool of your own misery. 10/10

A very short and simple but brillant puzzle game that tells a short and touching story about love. Which can be completed in a few minutes.
Do I recommend this game? Yes!

A game that is exactly what it says that it is. Pretentious Game may try to lull you into its grasp by its self-aware title, but do not be fooled, it is exactly one of those Newgrounds games where a thing loves another thing and then it conveys itself through tedious platformer mechanics.

While a few of the puzzles are somewhat interesting, the game mechanics are rudimentary and the storytelling is outright bland, bordering on awful. A girl square loves a boy square, one of the squares cheats on another, yet another square dies, etc. While you can try to derive meaning from how the little poetic bits of narration correlate to the mechanics you're meant to understand on the level, the game has very, very little to offer beyond that.

It is a very simple, uninteresting piece of work I do not recommend getting even for a fraction of the price while on sale. If you're interested in these types of games, I'd suggest something with a more powerful narrative to it (such as dys4ia) or something with more creative mechanics (such as problem attic - though problem attic is a very difficult game to swallow, it's certainly more interesting than this waste of time).

Do you like a really deep story on your games? It´s the first and most important question in wanting this game. It is a tragic love story that end in the most sad or tragic way. They might make you think, some remember, just feel bad for a square on the screen. But its interesting, and has nice story. It plays on you and make in the story some turns that you might have not spected.
With that said, some people say its not worth it for the price (but it helps the dev), I got it for discount the Steam Summer sale, and for a dollar, it´s not a bad price, and a well worth it hour of your time.

The first time I played this game, on a demo from the Play Store, I played the whole first level. And its pretty intense emotionally, I had to take a deep breath to calm myself after ending it, just in case you happen to want to start it in a public place.

I really liked this game, and wish that the developers were at least talking about continuing the game, but unfortunately this game seems to have been abandoned.

TL;DR

Pros

Cons

Rating

I really wanted to like this game, and if I hadn't played the last chapter, I probably would have.

The actual game is entertaining enough, with some fun mechanics aided by and aiding the story in turn. It's uncluttered and emotionally evocative without being, oddly, pretentious about it. But the last chapter feels incredibly forced in how it tries to tie everything together. It was sort of like seeing a writer put themselves into a very interesting premise and then being slightly unsure of how to resolve it.

I can't recommend this game because it struggles and falters at the finish line, but I wouldn't go so far as to dissuade someone from playing it. It's a nice walk in the park, but it rains at the end.

This game is not worth the money. I finished it in under an hour and i'd already played the first three chapters online on Armor Games. And there a only four chapters. Luckily, I only payed two pounds for this rather than four as i got probably 15 to 20 minutes of new gameplay. Don't spend your money on this game. If you want to play it, go to Armor Games and it'll be there for free. For two pounds more you can get a GOOD narrative puzzler called Thomas Was Alone. For three more pounds you can get Portal. If you want a game worth your money, don't buy this one.

Simplistic game done in the Thomas Was Alone style. It's an enjoyable experience but short (under an hour with the current four chapters) without much reason to replay it. I still say it's worth getting if you can get it cheap, though. The chapters stand alone nicely but also connect together well. The platforming is not much of a challenge, but I do like how the sentences both move the story along and guide the platforming. The score was also very nice.

It's five dollars for the last 1/4 of the game (you can play the first 3/4 online).

The game was completely unplayable for the first month it was out (it even went on sale while it was still unplayable!) and with boring, extremely short gameplay (under and hour), the game is exactly what it says: pretentious.

It's cute, but it's really just a very bland puzzle platformer. It's very, well, pretentious, but it doesn't play on that theme in any meaningful way. It's more an example than a commentary.

I wouldn't pay full price for it; there's maybe an hour of gameplay tops.

I hope you like that one Satie piece.

It was a reasonable game (borrowing heavily from Thomas Was Alone) but it's too short to justify the price. To make things worse, there's nothing unique in this version that isn't available for free online, so the developer is clearly just trying to make a quick buck.