Ah. That’s more like it.
As the one person I know who likes Donkey Kong Country, Drill Dozer, and that one burrowing escape sequence from Ori and the Will of the Wisps, I knew Pepper Grinder was going to be right up my alley. What impressed me though, was just how precisely the game melded its influences into something that felt simultaneously fresh yet familiar. The level design is classic obstacle escalation (introduce a concept, scale it up, throw in a twist, and then run the player through a final exam into their victory lap) with DKC inspired secrets with skull coin collectibles for unlocking secret levels. Many of the usual formula beats are present as well to force execution tests, from the usual moving parts in the forms of cannons, rope swings, and grappling points, to constantly present sources of danger like the freezing ocean or the temporary dirt patches created from cooling lava. What sets Pepper Grinder apart however, is that the terrain itself is the main obstacle. It feels like such a natural pairing to seamlessly mesh environmental navigation with the course’s very foundation, and the best moments of the game lean into funneling the player through various layers of shifting and isolated terrain while tearing through all that may stand in their way.
That said, I think to really understand the nuances of Pepper Grinder, one has to readily commit to its time attack mode. I could have been sold on the game-feel alone as an amalgam of Donkey Kong Country’s momentum physics and Drill Dozer’s force feedback, but playing under circumstances that force you to squeeze every possible second out of the timer gives the player a better appreciation of its movement mechanics. Pepper is not very fast on foot, nor can she naturally jump very far. Therefore, you’d think that most speed comes from tunneling through terrain, but it’s not quite that either. Rather, the player has to maintain momentum through the interplay of drilling and jumping by exiting terrain via the drill run (boosting right as you’re about to leave a patch of dirt), which commits the player to the projected arc leaving the terrain but with the reward of significantly more speed. The result is some of the weightiest and most satisfying movement I have ever experienced in any platformer. I was constantly figuring out new ways to save seconds by timing by boosts both within terrain and right before exiting terrain (since you can’t just spam boost and using it too early can lock you out from getting the necessary boost jump out of terrain), skipping certain obstacles entirely with well-placed drill runs, and figuring out how to manage my health to bypass unfavorable cycles and damage boost past mines and thorns. Some of those gold time attack medals were tight ordeals, but I absolutely savored every moment of the grind.
Bosses as a whole are a significant improvement from the usual quality of those in Donkey Kong Country. You’re not safe just waiting above ground, and burrowing to dodge attacks forces you to at least dash-dance underground since drilling means you can’t stay in one place. As a result, the player is constantly on the move, and you’re incentivized to do so anyways given that most of the bosses require multiple hits to defeat and aren’t the usual “invincible until they’re done attacking” crop from DKC. The biggest complaint I can levy here is that boss hit/hurtboxes can feel imprecise; I’ve heard that many players have had difficulty figuring out how to correctly drill into the beetle boss’s underbelly, and while I had no issues there, I did die a few times from the skeleton king’s heel hitbox where there was no visible attack in its vicinity. Still, I much prefer these boss fights over many of its peers, and figuring out when and how to best aim drill runs from the ground to speedrun bosses was just as much of a pleasure as speedrunning the courses themselves.
There are a few questionable design choices that could be touched upon here. Firstly, there’s a shop system present where you can purchase optional stickers from a gacha machine as well as temporary health boosts. The former is mostly forgivable given that they don’t impact the gameplay otherwise and can be cleared in about three minutes of purchasing and opening capsules. That said, I feel as if the latter could be removed entirely given that I never felt pressured to purchase insurance for courses and bosses, especially because I was often taking hits anyways to skip past obstacles and because you’re not going to regain the extra health capacity in-level once it’s gone. Secondly, bosses in time-attack mode force you to watch their opening unskippable cutscenes before getting to the action, and this gets extremely irritating when you’re constantly restarting fights to get better times. Finally, Pepper Grinder has a few gimmick areas in the forms of a couple of robot platforming segments, two snowmobile sections where you just hold forward on the control stick, and a couple of run-and-gun levels with little drilling involved. I can look past most of these given that they don’t take up much time and that I enjoyed all the minecart levels from DKC as is, though I do wish that they spaced the gimmicks apart a bit more given that levels 4-3 and 4-4 both have significant run and gun segments sending each course off.
If I did have any lasting complaints, it would be that I just want more of this game. Most players will finish adventure mode in under four hours. That said, even despite a lack of polish here and there, I absolutely adore Pepper Grinder. At this time of writing, I’ve 100%ed the game and even gone back to a few time trials after snagging all the gold medals just to further polish my records. It’s often difficult for me to pin down what makes a game feel good to play, but in this case, I just know. Pepper Grinder feels like an adrenaline rush made just for me, and though its execution barriers and short length will likely make this a tough sell for many, it is undoubtably some of the most fun I have had with a game this year. If you’re curious or enjoy anything that I’ve discussed in this write-up, please give the demo a shot. They don’t make 2D platformers like this anymore, and Pepper Grinder’s existence leaves me wondering why when they absolutely killed it on their first try.
As the one person I know who likes Donkey Kong Country, Drill Dozer, and that one burrowing escape sequence from Ori and the Will of the Wisps, I knew Pepper Grinder was going to be right up my alley. What impressed me though, was just how precisely the game melded its influences into something that felt simultaneously fresh yet familiar. The level design is classic obstacle escalation (introduce a concept, scale it up, throw in a twist, and then run the player through a final exam into their victory lap) with DKC inspired secrets with skull coin collectibles for unlocking secret levels. Many of the usual formula beats are present as well to force execution tests, from the usual moving parts in the forms of cannons, rope swings, and grappling points, to constantly present sources of danger like the freezing ocean or the temporary dirt patches created from cooling lava. What sets Pepper Grinder apart however, is that the terrain itself is the main obstacle. It feels like such a natural pairing to seamlessly mesh environmental navigation with the course’s very foundation, and the best moments of the game lean into funneling the player through various layers of shifting and isolated terrain while tearing through all that may stand in their way.
That said, I think to really understand the nuances of Pepper Grinder, one has to readily commit to its time attack mode. I could have been sold on the game-feel alone as an amalgam of Donkey Kong Country’s momentum physics and Drill Dozer’s force feedback, but playing under circumstances that force you to squeeze every possible second out of the timer gives the player a better appreciation of its movement mechanics. Pepper is not very fast on foot, nor can she naturally jump very far. Therefore, you’d think that most speed comes from tunneling through terrain, but it’s not quite that either. Rather, the player has to maintain momentum through the interplay of drilling and jumping by exiting terrain via the drill run (boosting right as you’re about to leave a patch of dirt), which commits the player to the projected arc leaving the terrain but with the reward of significantly more speed. The result is some of the weightiest and most satisfying movement I have ever experienced in any platformer. I was constantly figuring out new ways to save seconds by timing by boosts both within terrain and right before exiting terrain (since you can’t just spam boost and using it too early can lock you out from getting the necessary boost jump out of terrain), skipping certain obstacles entirely with well-placed drill runs, and figuring out how to manage my health to bypass unfavorable cycles and damage boost past mines and thorns. Some of those gold time attack medals were tight ordeals, but I absolutely savored every moment of the grind.
Bosses as a whole are a significant improvement from the usual quality of those in Donkey Kong Country. You’re not safe just waiting above ground, and burrowing to dodge attacks forces you to at least dash-dance underground since drilling means you can’t stay in one place. As a result, the player is constantly on the move, and you’re incentivized to do so anyways given that most of the bosses require multiple hits to defeat and aren’t the usual “invincible until they’re done attacking” crop from DKC. The biggest complaint I can levy here is that boss hit/hurtboxes can feel imprecise; I’ve heard that many players have had difficulty figuring out how to correctly drill into the beetle boss’s underbelly, and while I had no issues there, I did die a few times from the skeleton king’s heel hitbox where there was no visible attack in its vicinity. Still, I much prefer these boss fights over many of its peers, and figuring out when and how to best aim drill runs from the ground to speedrun bosses was just as much of a pleasure as speedrunning the courses themselves.
There are a few questionable design choices that could be touched upon here. Firstly, there’s a shop system present where you can purchase optional stickers from a gacha machine as well as temporary health boosts. The former is mostly forgivable given that they don’t impact the gameplay otherwise and can be cleared in about three minutes of purchasing and opening capsules. That said, I feel as if the latter could be removed entirely given that I never felt pressured to purchase insurance for courses and bosses, especially because I was often taking hits anyways to skip past obstacles and because you’re not going to regain the extra health capacity in-level once it’s gone. Secondly, bosses in time-attack mode force you to watch their opening unskippable cutscenes before getting to the action, and this gets extremely irritating when you’re constantly restarting fights to get better times. Finally, Pepper Grinder has a few gimmick areas in the forms of a couple of robot platforming segments, two snowmobile sections where you just hold forward on the control stick, and a couple of run-and-gun levels with little drilling involved. I can look past most of these given that they don’t take up much time and that I enjoyed all the minecart levels from DKC as is, though I do wish that they spaced the gimmicks apart a bit more given that levels 4-3 and 4-4 both have significant run and gun segments sending each course off.
If I did have any lasting complaints, it would be that I just want more of this game. Most players will finish adventure mode in under four hours. That said, even despite a lack of polish here and there, I absolutely adore Pepper Grinder. At this time of writing, I’ve 100%ed the game and even gone back to a few time trials after snagging all the gold medals just to further polish my records. It’s often difficult for me to pin down what makes a game feel good to play, but in this case, I just know. Pepper Grinder feels like an adrenaline rush made just for me, and though its execution barriers and short length will likely make this a tough sell for many, it is undoubtably some of the most fun I have had with a game this year. If you’re curious or enjoy anything that I’ve discussed in this write-up, please give the demo a shot. They don’t make 2D platformers like this anymore, and Pepper Grinder’s existence leaves me wondering why when they absolutely killed it on their first try.
fun, creative platformer that ends before it hits its full stride.
It's great when games are happy to bring in new mechanics out of nowhere and discard them just as quickly. No need to drag it out, just enjoy the wee new thing then move onto the next. Love that confidence.
Jogo indie bem curtinho de plataforma, onde a principal mecanica é a movimentacao com uma especie de broca/furadeira.
A historia é bem basica, seu personagem sobrevive a um acidente de navio e ve o seu tesouro ser levado embora. Vc tenta ir atras dos viloes, mas acaba caindo e encontra a sua furadeira. Ai meu amigo, tu vai sair perfurando e se movimentando e é bem satisfatorio.
O jogo tem 4 mundos com 4 fases e 1 chefe. Cada mundo tem uma fase bonus e vc desbloqueia ela comprando uma chave na lojinha. Cada chave custa 10 moedas grandes e em cada fase do jogo tem 5 dessas moedas, que estao escondidas. É um negocio meio Donkey Kong.
Alias, o jogo é bem inspirando em DK, tem ate fase com canhoes na neve (igual a fase do DK 1 dos barris na neve).
Tem algumas outras mecanicas que vc vai usar, como gancho, metralhadora e ate um robo gigante. Mas sao poucas as vezes que isso acontece.
Algumas fases la pro fim sao mais complicadas, mas nada que seja frustrante. O chefe final foi o que eu levei mais tempo, mas é só decorar o padrao dos ataques.
Pepper Grinder é bem divertido e satisfatorio, mas bem curto. Pega um fim de semana e só vai 👌🏻
A historia é bem basica, seu personagem sobrevive a um acidente de navio e ve o seu tesouro ser levado embora. Vc tenta ir atras dos viloes, mas acaba caindo e encontra a sua furadeira. Ai meu amigo, tu vai sair perfurando e se movimentando e é bem satisfatorio.
O jogo tem 4 mundos com 4 fases e 1 chefe. Cada mundo tem uma fase bonus e vc desbloqueia ela comprando uma chave na lojinha. Cada chave custa 10 moedas grandes e em cada fase do jogo tem 5 dessas moedas, que estao escondidas. É um negocio meio Donkey Kong.
Alias, o jogo é bem inspirando em DK, tem ate fase com canhoes na neve (igual a fase do DK 1 dos barris na neve).
Tem algumas outras mecanicas que vc vai usar, como gancho, metralhadora e ate um robo gigante. Mas sao poucas as vezes que isso acontece.
Algumas fases la pro fim sao mais complicadas, mas nada que seja frustrante. O chefe final foi o que eu levei mais tempo, mas é só decorar o padrao dos ataques.
Pepper Grinder é bem divertido e satisfatorio, mas bem curto. Pega um fim de semana e só vai 👌🏻
8 years after I first heard about Pepper Grinder it finally, finally releases. And thus, I can now report that the game is... fine.
Using the drill feels incredible. It's fluid and responsive and lends itself really well to great level design. Everything else however, is not up to this standard. There is way too much in this game that is not the fun drill-based platforming.
The combat in particular is pretty grim. Your shockingly small offensive range is coupled with overtly aggressive enemies that leverage questionable hitboxes against you. There is way too much of this, and it just isn’t fun. The enemies feel like padding to make the levels take longer, rather than actual substance in the levels. There are 2 90% combat levels that are completely miserable. If I made Pepper Grinder I would not have included them. The bosses are sick though they ruled.
There are also quite a few sections of platforming where the drill is not used at all, or is only used as an interface with another mechanic. Few of these are fun; most feel stiff and over-simplified, assumingly so that attention could be placed upon the parts of the game where you’re actually using the drill. This is a questionable decision considering how many of these segments there are. Especially in the last 40% of the game these segments are absolutely too frequent. Couple this with a frustratingly limited standard jump and you do not exactly have the recipe for greatness.
This game does inarguably have its highs, but they are not exceptional enough to counter it’s lows. Music is nice and has a really cohesive sound throughout the game, which is also nice. Every level has a decently unique mechanic that makes it different, which is inarguably impressive. But this means the quality of every level leans strongly upon how good this mechanic is, creating an almost binary system for each level. If the mechanic is fun or not fun, the same thing can be said of the entire level.
I did have some fun but my socks remained firmly not knocked-off for the entire game. I would wait for a sale on this one.
Using the drill feels incredible. It's fluid and responsive and lends itself really well to great level design. Everything else however, is not up to this standard. There is way too much in this game that is not the fun drill-based platforming.
The combat in particular is pretty grim. Your shockingly small offensive range is coupled with overtly aggressive enemies that leverage questionable hitboxes against you. There is way too much of this, and it just isn’t fun. The enemies feel like padding to make the levels take longer, rather than actual substance in the levels. There are 2 90% combat levels that are completely miserable. If I made Pepper Grinder I would not have included them. The bosses are sick though they ruled.
There are also quite a few sections of platforming where the drill is not used at all, or is only used as an interface with another mechanic. Few of these are fun; most feel stiff and over-simplified, assumingly so that attention could be placed upon the parts of the game where you’re actually using the drill. This is a questionable decision considering how many of these segments there are. Especially in the last 40% of the game these segments are absolutely too frequent. Couple this with a frustratingly limited standard jump and you do not exactly have the recipe for greatness.
This game does inarguably have its highs, but they are not exceptional enough to counter it’s lows. Music is nice and has a really cohesive sound throughout the game, which is also nice. Every level has a decently unique mechanic that makes it different, which is inarguably impressive. But this means the quality of every level leans strongly upon how good this mechanic is, creating an almost binary system for each level. If the mechanic is fun or not fun, the same thing can be said of the entire level.
I did have some fun but my socks remained firmly not knocked-off for the entire game. I would wait for a sale on this one.
Eu acho muito maneiro o que ele faz, e acho que ele faz bem principalmente a parte de movimentação, mas não clicou comigo. Acho que eu prefiro uns jogos de plataforma mais metódicos, sei lá? Mas é bem feito.
Variety is the spice of life and whilst this game concentrates on one seasoning executed very well it never forgets that.
Pepper Grinder see’s you control the drill totting Pepper, burrowing through dirt, under the water, between lava and crumbling ice.
Many of the platforming level archetypes are here but due to the rapid drilling versus precision platforming Pepper Grinder finds a way for this classic imagery to feel original in many places.
Holding the trigger on your controller of choice has you bury deep into dirt with constant momentum, with movement and turning circles reminiscent of Ecco the Dolphin, one of the game’s many inspirations.
It is key that any game feels good in the hand and this genre can live or die on it, thankfully the feeling of flow you find yourself in drilling, flying through the air into other bits of ground, avoiding obstacles and using varying devices or gimmicks is exactly where you want it to be.
Occasionally the speed can feel frantic, the turning circles may not feel tight enough, the distance you jump may seem too much but rarely does it ever feel like it’s anything but a mistake of yours and the game is very forgiving with its checkpointing.
A small area where the fault does not feel like it is on the player is the questionable hitboxes of enemies. Nearly all of the Narlings, the small narwhal-goblin hybrid type enemies are splatted in a single hit, but they occasionally wield equipment to halt your progress. Expected and not unwanted but the consistency of who hits first and where the enemies are vulnerable doesn’t always seem to watch and that perfect flow state hitting a brick wall is an irritation this game would be better for without.
Speaking of enemies, the bosses of Pepper Grinder are fun and varied. A lot of pattern remembering as expected but diverse in style, looks and set up with the difficulty of them rising to a real peak for the final encounter.
The only disappointment is that there aren't many, an issue the game has as a whole.
I find it difficult to complain about a game being short, especially when it is so tight.
Each stage in Pepper Grinder brings new and interesting ideas, a strength of variety that the best Nintendo games have and something I loved about last year’s Pizza Tower.
Being left wanting more is a good thing, but I can’t help but feel like this game is one world and a handful of stages too short.
Pepper Grinder does however give you a reason to go back. Each level has five hidden skull coins, a staple of any platformer and with these you can unlock some palette swaps and a hidden level in each world which are typically some of the more fun and gimmick heavy driven stages in the game.
The treasure you collect, this game’s equivalent to Sonic’s rings and the like do not help you survive but allow you to buy stickers.
Stickers and sticker pages are Pepper Grinder’s fun take on a 2D photo mode but act like the sticker books you had as a kid, just with more variety, less permanence and glue-mark based mess.
The annoyance here though is you unlock stickers with coins using a gacha machine and trying to fill the pages feels too time consuming and at time of writing I don’t believe there’s a trick to stop getting repeats outside of trying again and again.
The stickers give you a reason to return to levels to grind treasure but as each stage is finished a time-attack is unlocked and for this podium of prizes additional special stickers and music tracks are obtained. The time-trials are where the game truly becomes “hardcore”, and this is one title I cannot wait to see in the hands of experienced speed-runners.
I mentioned music tracks and Pepper Grinder’s OST composed by XeeCee is one of its highlights. The tracks may not be as catchy as some classics but the variety from mad drum and bass to more lo-fi tracks depending on the stage are welcome and something I find myself wanting to go back to.
Pepper Grinder is a fun and sometimes furious, drilling platforming experience with interesting ideas and fun mechanics spread throughout. To spoil what the game brings in variety would spoil it but as well as stage variety Pepper gets to do a little more than you’d expect a drill normally would - at points making me grin from ear to ear as I realise what is happening.
A little too short with some minor annoyances in hitboxes and the curse of gacha but otherwise an early contender for GOTY and an easy recommendation.
One that may only slide down the mental list of good games this year because it is so brief and hasn’t quite changed the game or blown me away the way the previously mentioned Pizza Tower did. It comes close though, I’ll take a dash of pepper with my pizza - thank you very much!
Pepper Grinder see’s you control the drill totting Pepper, burrowing through dirt, under the water, between lava and crumbling ice.
Many of the platforming level archetypes are here but due to the rapid drilling versus precision platforming Pepper Grinder finds a way for this classic imagery to feel original in many places.
Holding the trigger on your controller of choice has you bury deep into dirt with constant momentum, with movement and turning circles reminiscent of Ecco the Dolphin, one of the game’s many inspirations.
It is key that any game feels good in the hand and this genre can live or die on it, thankfully the feeling of flow you find yourself in drilling, flying through the air into other bits of ground, avoiding obstacles and using varying devices or gimmicks is exactly where you want it to be.
Occasionally the speed can feel frantic, the turning circles may not feel tight enough, the distance you jump may seem too much but rarely does it ever feel like it’s anything but a mistake of yours and the game is very forgiving with its checkpointing.
A small area where the fault does not feel like it is on the player is the questionable hitboxes of enemies. Nearly all of the Narlings, the small narwhal-goblin hybrid type enemies are splatted in a single hit, but they occasionally wield equipment to halt your progress. Expected and not unwanted but the consistency of who hits first and where the enemies are vulnerable doesn’t always seem to watch and that perfect flow state hitting a brick wall is an irritation this game would be better for without.
Speaking of enemies, the bosses of Pepper Grinder are fun and varied. A lot of pattern remembering as expected but diverse in style, looks and set up with the difficulty of them rising to a real peak for the final encounter.
The only disappointment is that there aren't many, an issue the game has as a whole.
I find it difficult to complain about a game being short, especially when it is so tight.
Each stage in Pepper Grinder brings new and interesting ideas, a strength of variety that the best Nintendo games have and something I loved about last year’s Pizza Tower.
Being left wanting more is a good thing, but I can’t help but feel like this game is one world and a handful of stages too short.
Pepper Grinder does however give you a reason to go back. Each level has five hidden skull coins, a staple of any platformer and with these you can unlock some palette swaps and a hidden level in each world which are typically some of the more fun and gimmick heavy driven stages in the game.
The treasure you collect, this game’s equivalent to Sonic’s rings and the like do not help you survive but allow you to buy stickers.
Stickers and sticker pages are Pepper Grinder’s fun take on a 2D photo mode but act like the sticker books you had as a kid, just with more variety, less permanence and glue-mark based mess.
The annoyance here though is you unlock stickers with coins using a gacha machine and trying to fill the pages feels too time consuming and at time of writing I don’t believe there’s a trick to stop getting repeats outside of trying again and again.
The stickers give you a reason to return to levels to grind treasure but as each stage is finished a time-attack is unlocked and for this podium of prizes additional special stickers and music tracks are obtained. The time-trials are where the game truly becomes “hardcore”, and this is one title I cannot wait to see in the hands of experienced speed-runners.
I mentioned music tracks and Pepper Grinder’s OST composed by XeeCee is one of its highlights. The tracks may not be as catchy as some classics but the variety from mad drum and bass to more lo-fi tracks depending on the stage are welcome and something I find myself wanting to go back to.
Pepper Grinder is a fun and sometimes furious, drilling platforming experience with interesting ideas and fun mechanics spread throughout. To spoil what the game brings in variety would spoil it but as well as stage variety Pepper gets to do a little more than you’d expect a drill normally would - at points making me grin from ear to ear as I realise what is happening.
A little too short with some minor annoyances in hitboxes and the curse of gacha but otherwise an early contender for GOTY and an easy recommendation.
One that may only slide down the mental list of good games this year because it is so brief and hasn’t quite changed the game or blown me away the way the previously mentioned Pizza Tower did. It comes close though, I’ll take a dash of pepper with my pizza - thank you very much!
a very neat indie platformer with satisfying and rewarding controls (which sometimes feel very awkward). animations are fun and pop because of the artstyle, super enjoyable
Honestly, Pepper Grinder feels like the most middle of the road modern indie game ever. It's never BAD in its 2 hour run time, but it never feels much deeper than a game jam project. The main flaw is the lack of depth in the central mechanic, but the bland pixel aesthetic and basic level design certainly don't help.
Drilling feels great, but its not really a mechanic that leads itself to any challenging platforming or combat sections, its just not interesting enough to be the central focus of the game.
While the gamefeel is strong, and it really feels like all of the effort went to making Pepper Grinder fun to control, the rest of the game just can't make up for it. There's no interesting levels that stood out, the bosses really stunk aside from the third one (where you basically fight yourself), and the difficulty was generally low but super uneven. I can't see myself replaying this one unfortunately.
Drilling feels great, but its not really a mechanic that leads itself to any challenging platforming or combat sections, its just not interesting enough to be the central focus of the game.
While the gamefeel is strong, and it really feels like all of the effort went to making Pepper Grinder fun to control, the rest of the game just can't make up for it. There's no interesting levels that stood out, the bosses really stunk aside from the third one (where you basically fight yourself), and the difficulty was generally low but super uneven. I can't see myself replaying this one unfortunately.
It's ...alright. It's got smooth and fun gameplay and feels good to play overall, but it kinda gets very repetitive. I feel the Drill based gameplay never evolves in new ways enough to keep it fresh. Stuff like the grapple hook feels underused and some mechanics like the gun feel very meh overall. The bosses range from pretty fun to very annoying.
The enemies have ass hitboxes though, I feel like sometimes you get hit by something you wouldn't get hit by any other time you play.
It's a very short game but I've never really felt that's a problem if its replayable and I think it has that going for it overall.
Still it's a good time to be had, just kinda forgettable.
The enemies have ass hitboxes though, I feel like sometimes you get hit by something you wouldn't get hit by any other time you play.
It's a very short game but I've never really felt that's a problem if its replayable and I think it has that going for it overall.
Still it's a good time to be had, just kinda forgettable.
On first glance Pepper Grinder is remarkable because of it's central gameplay conceit, on second glance I found remarkable because of everything else. Because while the digging gameplay of the titular grinder is really fun, it's not what kept me engaged. It was the world the game portrays that fascinated me the most. Initially I kinda assumed it would be a harmless, vividly rendered world like so many others 2D platformers (like what the boxart would imply). But Pepper Grinder is absolutely obsessed with death. Enemies explode into small bones, the one big collectible is skull coins and in the end you burrow through layers of bone. In its second half the game makes the tantalizing decision to mostly forego the complexities of its central movement system in favor of gimmicks and fights: controlling a robot of mass destruction, sinking ships with enemies on them, killing hundreds of goons in a final skirmish, destroying houses and firing a gatling gun. This doesn't meaningfully build on any gameplay dynamics, but instead on the thematic resonance of this game's obsession with death. You tear through an entire civilization in your conquest. You have no context as why you are doing this until the very end.
A really enjoyable 2D platformer. The drill mechanic makes movement a ton of fun. I wasn't a big fan of the vehicle and gatling gun segments as I just wanted to get back to the drilling. The art and the music are great. I really appreciated the option to turn down the game's speed during sections I struggled with. The sticker mechanic is cute, but I wish there was a way to buy multiple stickers at once. The game is also shorter than I expected - I took my time looking for collectibles and finished it in ~3.5 hours. I hope they add more levels in the future as an update or DLC.
One of the most inventive games of 2024! A perfectly paced platformer, constantly shifting between bombast and laugh out loud moments with some of the most satisfying comedic timing in a while - something I did not expect from a game punching so highly above its weight class in terms of quality.
The whole package is stunning. Art style and animation are really charming, sound effects build a sense of tactility into everything you do, and the music? Brother, that shit kicks ass. I could've played 100 hours of this game, and by the time I complete all of the time trials, I likely will.
Pepper Grinder is the perfect weekend video game. The sort of thing you'd fire up on a Friday, finish on a Saturday, and come back to on a Sunday to get everything done. I salute the hell out of that.
The whole package is stunning. Art style and animation are really charming, sound effects build a sense of tactility into everything you do, and the music? Brother, that shit kicks ass. I could've played 100 hours of this game, and by the time I complete all of the time trials, I likely will.
Pepper Grinder is the perfect weekend video game. The sort of thing you'd fire up on a Friday, finish on a Saturday, and come back to on a Sunday to get everything done. I salute the hell out of that.
Pepper Grinder does one thing very well, which is of course the drilling. I never quite got tired of it. It's so much fun flinging yourself out of the dirt!
I also like that the game supports multiple play styles. Like you can play it slow and explore to find the secret skull coins or you can play it fast and try to go for a low time. I feel the game could've also supported a score attack mode where you need to collect as many of the diamonds as possible, as they are fun to collect but are borderline useless in the game.
That said Pepper Grinder does try to do other things like make you drive vehicles and a few levels are basically shoot em ups. These other sections aren't bad, but they aren't amazing either. It kinda feels like they ran out of ways to make the drilling fun and just decided to add extra shit in to make it not as repetitive.
There is also a shop which unfortunately doesn't really sell anything interesting. You collect these diamonds throughout the game, but the only thing you can buy with them is stickers and temporary health. Stickers are especially bizarre as people interested in playing a fast paced platformer are probably not super interested in decorating with stickers. You can at least buy extra levels and different colors for your character with the skull coins, which ain't too bad.
That said, Pepper Grinder is never boring or frustrating to play. It's an overall a solid platformer with a fun drill mechanic and a great art style. I just think it could've been a bit more.
I also like that the game supports multiple play styles. Like you can play it slow and explore to find the secret skull coins or you can play it fast and try to go for a low time. I feel the game could've also supported a score attack mode where you need to collect as many of the diamonds as possible, as they are fun to collect but are borderline useless in the game.
That said Pepper Grinder does try to do other things like make you drive vehicles and a few levels are basically shoot em ups. These other sections aren't bad, but they aren't amazing either. It kinda feels like they ran out of ways to make the drilling fun and just decided to add extra shit in to make it not as repetitive.
There is also a shop which unfortunately doesn't really sell anything interesting. You collect these diamonds throughout the game, but the only thing you can buy with them is stickers and temporary health. Stickers are especially bizarre as people interested in playing a fast paced platformer are probably not super interested in decorating with stickers. You can at least buy extra levels and different colors for your character with the skull coins, which ain't too bad.
That said, Pepper Grinder is never boring or frustrating to play. It's an overall a solid platformer with a fun drill mechanic and a great art style. I just think it could've been a bit more.
No es malo, pero sí que tengo que admitir que me parece una enorme decepción. Los niveles principales no son demasiado interesantes, son pocos y además las gimmicks son demasiado situacionales, además de tener unos jefes bastante pobres también. Le pondría un 2.5 raspado pero no uso decimales así que así se queda (aunque si mañana me levanto más en frio a lo mejor lo paso a un 3)
Me da mucha lastima porque llevaba tiempo detrás del juego, no os voy a mentir.
Me da mucha lastima porque llevaba tiempo detrás del juego, no os voy a mentir.
Phenomenal little title that combines the challenge of Celeste with the fluid game design and structure of DKC: Tropical Freeze. Every stage is unique and expands on the drill mechanic in a meaningful way. Only complaint is that it was too short (~2.5 hours), but that's only because I wish there was more! A super charming must play.
Wake up honey time for your Competent Indie Platformer with Adequate Movement and Decent Aesthetics #735. Ugh fine extra star because drills are cool
I love Pepper Grinder, but it needs updates. More than that, it needed more time in the oven.
Grinding/drilling through the dirt is so satisfying, bolstered by great use of HD Rumble on Switch. Grinding through gravel and popping out of the Earth, at its best, is one of the best feeling game mechanics in years to me. It is that special. The level design is great and has light collectathon elements -- big Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi's Island vibes. There are ideas used once or twice alongside level/visual themes only used a few times, and for the most part they're executed great. The difficulty during levels is breezy but not overly so. The music rips, too.
If all of Pepper Grinder was like this, it would be one of the best 2D platformers I had played in years. Skipping over the water man...it feels so good! Unfortunately, the game faces regular, frustrating issues with punishing bosses, inconsistent checkpointing, bugs, strange hitboxes, and other design quirks that leave me feeling more mixed here than any game I've played in some time. The bosses in particular -- why is there such an unearned difficulty spike here? Why am I doing Metroidvania-style pattern recognition bosses after skipping over the water using my silly drill? Why are there no permanent health upgrades to accommodate?
This still could end up in my Top 10 (or at least honorable mentions) at the end of the year because the stuff that hits really hits. But the whiplash between total elation and "almost quit the game" level frustration makes it a really difficult thing to evaluate. Excited to see what the developer does next.
Grinding/drilling through the dirt is so satisfying, bolstered by great use of HD Rumble on Switch. Grinding through gravel and popping out of the Earth, at its best, is one of the best feeling game mechanics in years to me. It is that special. The level design is great and has light collectathon elements -- big Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi's Island vibes. There are ideas used once or twice alongside level/visual themes only used a few times, and for the most part they're executed great. The difficulty during levels is breezy but not overly so. The music rips, too.
If all of Pepper Grinder was like this, it would be one of the best 2D platformers I had played in years. Skipping over the water man...it feels so good! Unfortunately, the game faces regular, frustrating issues with punishing bosses, inconsistent checkpointing, bugs, strange hitboxes, and other design quirks that leave me feeling more mixed here than any game I've played in some time. The bosses in particular -- why is there such an unearned difficulty spike here? Why am I doing Metroidvania-style pattern recognition bosses after skipping over the water using my silly drill? Why are there no permanent health upgrades to accommodate?
This still could end up in my Top 10 (or at least honorable mentions) at the end of the year because the stuff that hits really hits. But the whiplash between total elation and "almost quit the game" level frustration makes it a really difficult thing to evaluate. Excited to see what the developer does next.
I think that we, as a society
Should make more games about tiny girls using a drill to do platforming and stuff
But alas, we only got Drill Dozer, Gurumin and this
We're a couple of steps away from the perfect TTGL videogame
Should make more games about tiny girls using a drill to do platforming and stuff
But alas, we only got Drill Dozer, Gurumin and this
We're a couple of steps away from the perfect TTGL videogame
I played the Pepper Grinder demo during Next Fest and I really loved it and I was eagerly anticipating the games release, and I immediately picked it up once it launched. Despite some of the good that crops up during the game, overall Pepper Grinder is a massively, MASSIVELY underwhelming game.
Before I get into the issues I have with the game, I just want to mention that the art and the aesthetic of this game is pretty fantastic. The pixel art, the animation, the color palette, how diverse every level looks, it's all really impressive stuff. Drilling through mountains and volcanoes and icebergs and ruined cities all make for really fun settings for the game. It's just disappointing that all of that feels wasted on levels that don't take advantage of what makes this game great.
Pepper Grinder excels when it's just Pepper, the Grinder, and a whole lot of dirt. The movement is tight, its fun, it's fast and it's got a lot of personality to it. The game throws in some fun gimmicks too like dousing lava with water to allow you to quickly drill through the magma before it melts again, or ice that will break behind you as you drill creating exciting moments of platforming in really unique ways. The game just discards these ideas so quickly that with a run time of roughly 3-4 hours, they feel very underutilized. Some of these ideas only appear once, or maybe twice out of 23 total levels and I just wish there was more I could do with them. And it absolutely does not help that there's so many parts of other levels that focus on all the things that don't make the game fun. Having to shoot rockets at ice takes longer than it needs to, 'combat' sections get old after the first one in level 1, and World 4 is almost entirely focused around these slower, less drilling inspired things. One entire level in World 4 has an entire three places to actually drill, and the rest is filled with unfun autoscroller combat with a machine gun. There's just far too much in this pretty short game that's just frustrating or unsatisfying. But even still, there's a lot of fun to be had when the game isn't focused on all the things that aren't fun. If the whole game was like this, it wouldn't feel so bad, except for one giant glaring problem: the bosses.
The boss battle in this game are outright bad. There's unfortunately not a single one that is fun, they're tedious and frustrating to fight and show off every single flaw the game has on offering. This game is just not built for these, they don't add anything to the experience and actively detract from it. The final boss in particular is especially bad, the first phase is fine (even though halfway through the AI broke for me), but the 2nd phase is genuinely a slog to fight. It's like one of the worst combat arenas I've experienced in a game since the good old Capra Demon fight in Dark Souls.
Just all round really frustrating bosses that do nothing to enhance the strengths of this game.
Maybe I went in expecting the wrong things, but this package has overall left me largely disappointed. So if you are like me, and you played the demo and really loved the fast paced drilling action and wanted to get this for more of that, I cannot recommend Pepper Grinder for how misused this games mechanics are that get focused on all the wrong things.
Before I get into the issues I have with the game, I just want to mention that the art and the aesthetic of this game is pretty fantastic. The pixel art, the animation, the color palette, how diverse every level looks, it's all really impressive stuff. Drilling through mountains and volcanoes and icebergs and ruined cities all make for really fun settings for the game. It's just disappointing that all of that feels wasted on levels that don't take advantage of what makes this game great.
Pepper Grinder excels when it's just Pepper, the Grinder, and a whole lot of dirt. The movement is tight, its fun, it's fast and it's got a lot of personality to it. The game throws in some fun gimmicks too like dousing lava with water to allow you to quickly drill through the magma before it melts again, or ice that will break behind you as you drill creating exciting moments of platforming in really unique ways. The game just discards these ideas so quickly that with a run time of roughly 3-4 hours, they feel very underutilized. Some of these ideas only appear once, or maybe twice out of 23 total levels and I just wish there was more I could do with them. And it absolutely does not help that there's so many parts of other levels that focus on all the things that don't make the game fun. Having to shoot rockets at ice takes longer than it needs to, 'combat' sections get old after the first one in level 1, and World 4 is almost entirely focused around these slower, less drilling inspired things. One entire level in World 4 has an entire three places to actually drill, and the rest is filled with unfun autoscroller combat with a machine gun. There's just far too much in this pretty short game that's just frustrating or unsatisfying. But even still, there's a lot of fun to be had when the game isn't focused on all the things that aren't fun. If the whole game was like this, it wouldn't feel so bad, except for one giant glaring problem: the bosses.
The boss battle in this game are outright bad. There's unfortunately not a single one that is fun, they're tedious and frustrating to fight and show off every single flaw the game has on offering. This game is just not built for these, they don't add anything to the experience and actively detract from it. The final boss in particular is especially bad, the first phase is fine (even though halfway through the AI broke for me), but the 2nd phase is genuinely a slog to fight. It's like one of the worst combat arenas I've experienced in a game since the good old Capra Demon fight in Dark Souls.
Just all round really frustrating bosses that do nothing to enhance the strengths of this game.
Maybe I went in expecting the wrong things, but this package has overall left me largely disappointed. So if you are like me, and you played the demo and really loved the fast paced drilling action and wanted to get this for more of that, I cannot recommend Pepper Grinder for how misused this games mechanics are that get focused on all the wrong things.
I love momentum-based platformers. Got to be one of my favorite genders.
Very cathartic and well designed, if somewhat short and a little unpolished.
I do have to subtract some points for that, because the first phase of the final boss giltched out and just stood there, taking punches as if it wished to be killed. The second phase glitched out too, because something made all sound effects disappear all together.
Odd, very odd, and I’d be more forgiving if it wasn’t such a short experience, but at least it’s a very sweet one, warts and all.
I do have to subtract some points for that, because the first phase of the final boss giltched out and just stood there, taking punches as if it wished to be killed. The second phase glitched out too, because something made all sound effects disappear all together.
Odd, very odd, and I’d be more forgiving if it wasn’t such a short experience, but at least it’s a very sweet one, warts and all.
Props to this game for trying out new ideas and concepts that I haven't seen other 2d games tackle before. Fun, entertaining and doesn't overstay its welcome
Finished pepper grinder
Let me get this out of the way, i ain't no 2d platformer dude, these Mario/Celeste of the worlds never appeal to me, I just found the concept of jumping on platforms boring.
But holy shit PG is freaking awesome. finished it in 1 sitting, this game throws the pressing A to jump out of the window, instead incorporating a unique mechanic, u are grinding throw walls, water, snow etc etc, gameplay LOOP freaking slaps, and among these things, there are setpieces moments where u equipe different kind of weapons not gonna spoil.
Visuals are also good pixelated stuff, Story is basic, levels are also pretty basic looks-wise wish they were as unique as the gameplay.
Bosses are also good.
8/10
Let me get this out of the way, i ain't no 2d platformer dude, these Mario/Celeste of the worlds never appeal to me, I just found the concept of jumping on platforms boring.
But holy shit PG is freaking awesome. finished it in 1 sitting, this game throws the pressing A to jump out of the window, instead incorporating a unique mechanic, u are grinding throw walls, water, snow etc etc, gameplay LOOP freaking slaps, and among these things, there are setpieces moments where u equipe different kind of weapons not gonna spoil.
Visuals are also good pixelated stuff, Story is basic, levels are also pretty basic looks-wise wish they were as unique as the gameplay.
Bosses are also good.
8/10
While the fluid movement is what got me interested enough in Pepper Grinder to purchase it day one, it ended up being the lively presentation that stuck with me the most upon completion. The characters and environments are both filled to the brim with personality and are appropriately complemented by a joyous soundtrack and some well-composed levels that really made getting through this an overall delight. If there was anything weighing the game down, it's probably the boss encounters which while visually interesting, didn't always maintain the same level of polish present in the rest of the experience. I did also run into a few annoying bugs throughout my playthrough but those will likely be patched out shortly so I won't hold it against the game too much.
When I played Pepper Grinder’s demo in February, it had me so excited. I was dumbfounded at how this team made the drilling mechanic feel this damn good. Everything from the visuals, controls, rumble, and every ounce of “game feel” combine to make the drilling just incredible. There was an unreal level of satisfaction I got from chaining together these runs of drilling through dirt, bursting out of the surface, flying through the air to another surface, and plunging into dirt once again. It was just so brilliant. “Yes”, I said. “This thing has THE JUICE.”
I felt much of these feelings as I played through the first 4 levels again from the demo but now in the full game. I was charging head first into the boss of world 1, full of glee and excitement. The boss was pretty meh but I just chalked it up to platformers not knowing how to make fun bosses. As usual, right? Oh well, I was sure that was just a speedbump, a pothole perhaps.
Then I got into World 2. Oh gosh! What happened to my drilling game? My sweet sweet child of the dirt. What happened to THE JUICE? Why is this now a running and jumping and fighting game where you sometimes are drilling? The level design just took a big flip for some reason to focus on basically any other gimmick than primarily drilling. Also the checkpoints got extremely stingy forcing me to replay substantial segments of a level multiple times. It was at this point where I started to understand some of the middling reviews I had seen for Pepper Grinder before release. I kept assuming and gaslighting myself that “huh must have just been a weird level”. Nope! This is every level after that first blissful world going into the end of the game. For a game with only 4 worlds, you go through a surprising amount of water levels and vehicle gimmick levels. It’s just not what I signed up for! And then the boss for world 3 is honestly more punishing than any From Software boss I’ve ever fought for some reason? Literally was ripping my hair out because the difficulty was so off the charts.
Pepper Grinder’s demo was a strong 9/10 with potential to be an all-time indie platformer classic. I was thinking it could have been a Celeste or a Meat Boy but its structure is just off. I really think this thing would have fit better with quick, difficult, trial-and-error level segments like the two games mentioned above. Instead it’s these 5-10 minute levels that chain small encounters together that all engage with a single mechanic, basically longer Mario levels. And for some reason this game has a shop? The only thing worthwhile from the shop is the bonus level key that unlocks a challenging optional stage in each world. The only other gameplay-altering item in the shop are these miniscule health powerups that last for only your next life. I honestly found them to be worth less than the time it took to buy them since you have to spin this gacha machine every time you want another segment of temporary extra health. Also, I thought the point of a gacha machine was that it gave you a random thing every time: the lootbox thing. Why is this gacha machine ONLY filled with these tiny stupid health things. It’s a fixed outcome. It’s just not compatible with the whole gacha machine concept! And then the fun colored cosmetics you’d think would be a natural fit in a gacha machine are unlocked by simply buying the ones you want. This is extremely lame in a setting where the currency isn’t tied to real money! You have the perfect excuse to gamify your shop and you actively avoid it? I just don’t get it! At that point you might as well have a more objective way to unlock the outfits like maybe gating them behind mastery of each level. The game already has a Time Trial mode so why not give the coolest colors of hair and cape for completely devilishly hard challenges. The whole shop truly feels like a relic of a past project iteration.
I really expected to love Pepper Grinder. I love indie pixel platformers so so stinking much. I also love games that just feel incredible to play. AND I love games about finding the flow state in a perfectly tuned world. Unfortunately, Pepper Grinder didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Maybe this is a lesson in expectations but gosh my mind can’t stop wondering how incredible this game could have been in another life. What kills me most of all is there are occasional glimpses of that idealized version of Pepper Grinder and it hits! Maybe someday we’ll get a Pepper Grinder 2 and if we do, I’ll be first in line to play that demo.
I felt much of these feelings as I played through the first 4 levels again from the demo but now in the full game. I was charging head first into the boss of world 1, full of glee and excitement. The boss was pretty meh but I just chalked it up to platformers not knowing how to make fun bosses. As usual, right? Oh well, I was sure that was just a speedbump, a pothole perhaps.
Then I got into World 2. Oh gosh! What happened to my drilling game? My sweet sweet child of the dirt. What happened to THE JUICE? Why is this now a running and jumping and fighting game where you sometimes are drilling? The level design just took a big flip for some reason to focus on basically any other gimmick than primarily drilling. Also the checkpoints got extremely stingy forcing me to replay substantial segments of a level multiple times. It was at this point where I started to understand some of the middling reviews I had seen for Pepper Grinder before release. I kept assuming and gaslighting myself that “huh must have just been a weird level”. Nope! This is every level after that first blissful world going into the end of the game. For a game with only 4 worlds, you go through a surprising amount of water levels and vehicle gimmick levels. It’s just not what I signed up for! And then the boss for world 3 is honestly more punishing than any From Software boss I’ve ever fought for some reason? Literally was ripping my hair out because the difficulty was so off the charts.
Pepper Grinder’s demo was a strong 9/10 with potential to be an all-time indie platformer classic. I was thinking it could have been a Celeste or a Meat Boy but its structure is just off. I really think this thing would have fit better with quick, difficult, trial-and-error level segments like the two games mentioned above. Instead it’s these 5-10 minute levels that chain small encounters together that all engage with a single mechanic, basically longer Mario levels. And for some reason this game has a shop? The only thing worthwhile from the shop is the bonus level key that unlocks a challenging optional stage in each world. The only other gameplay-altering item in the shop are these miniscule health powerups that last for only your next life. I honestly found them to be worth less than the time it took to buy them since you have to spin this gacha machine every time you want another segment of temporary extra health. Also, I thought the point of a gacha machine was that it gave you a random thing every time: the lootbox thing. Why is this gacha machine ONLY filled with these tiny stupid health things. It’s a fixed outcome. It’s just not compatible with the whole gacha machine concept! And then the fun colored cosmetics you’d think would be a natural fit in a gacha machine are unlocked by simply buying the ones you want. This is extremely lame in a setting where the currency isn’t tied to real money! You have the perfect excuse to gamify your shop and you actively avoid it? I just don’t get it! At that point you might as well have a more objective way to unlock the outfits like maybe gating them behind mastery of each level. The game already has a Time Trial mode so why not give the coolest colors of hair and cape for completely devilishly hard challenges. The whole shop truly feels like a relic of a past project iteration.
I really expected to love Pepper Grinder. I love indie pixel platformers so so stinking much. I also love games that just feel incredible to play. AND I love games about finding the flow state in a perfectly tuned world. Unfortunately, Pepper Grinder didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Maybe this is a lesson in expectations but gosh my mind can’t stop wondering how incredible this game could have been in another life. What kills me most of all is there are occasional glimpses of that idealized version of Pepper Grinder and it hits! Maybe someday we’ll get a Pepper Grinder 2 and if we do, I’ll be first in line to play that demo.
ser uma toupeira deve ser irado
This game could have been perfect if they cut out all of the enemies, bosses, and a couple other ideas and focuses on the core platforming and vibes. It's very frustrating because I believe it could easily be one of the best platformers ever if these simple issues were fixed. A sequel addressing these issues would be magnificent since the core platforming with the drill and hook is some of the most fun I have ever had with a 2D platformer. I hope this studio makes more good games.
This game fucking rips, I just wish it were a little longer
I imagine this must be what those people with loud ass construction equipment are doing every GODDAMN DAY