Pony Island Reviews

I haven't played anything as engaging and interesting as Pony Island in a long time.

Plenty of indie games emulate the retro style of a bygone era, but developers somehow still manage to find new twists on the classics. Pony Island's novelty doesn't lie in its gameplay, which is comprised of simple endless-runner action levels and forgettable faux-programming puzzles. Instead, the main draw is the entertaining Da Vinci Code-style mystery that lies beneath the idyllic and carefree veneer.

If I’m allowed just one bone to pick with Daniel Mullins and his team it would be this: when framing a narrative that points a satirical finger at the cardinal sins of other developers, you must be careful not to commit those sins yourself. In an attempt to frame the antagonistic nature of the designer/player dynamic and ask why a game can’t be simple, uncomplicated fun, Mullins has saddled his creation with an incredibly tedious third act. I’m not saying it’s any less playable and compelling than the rest but the sudden spike in difficulty becomes exactly the kind of annoyance that Pony Island seems to spend the majority of its time campaigning against.

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I greatly enjoyed the two or so hours it took me to play through Pony Island. This is a game that delights in toying with your expectations and in breaking the fourth wall, in revealing its sinister yet playful world, and in building up a compelling antagonist and telling an ambiguous story. Pony Island is about as punk rock as they come.

Pony Island messes with players in unexpected ways that stuck with me for days. It took a number of unexpected turns that caught me off guard and was constantly filling me with a sense of inescapable unease. It wasn’t on my radar at all before it released, but at under $5 it’s a wonderful use of two hours of your life.