A sneaky possum on the hunt for food — and on the run from the fuzz
Cozy, quirky games are quickly becoming one of my favorite genres of video games. Not only do they provide enjoyable, refreshing experiences but maaaaaaan just look at them. Look at them! Adorable! The upcoming game Pizza Possum is just such a thing, and recently going hands-on with it made me fall in love with the critter that’s going through a public image renaissance.
In Pizza Possum players take control of an anthropomorphized version of the marsupial as it aims to fill its tummy with any and all food it can find. The game’s demo realizes this as essentially like becoming a food vacuum, with the heroic animal emerging from its home and running through a town to eat up anything that looks remotely edible. The isometric/overhead vantage point allows us to see all of the food available in the cartoony seaside town, as well as the dogs that are trying to prevent us from stealing it.
And that’s where the game is magic in simplicity. It’s ultimately a stealth game, forcing us to be more sneaky and speedy than to be methodical. As I run around the town and grab fruit, vegetables, and the pizza that the possum craves so much, I make it a point to stay as far away from the pups that are chasing me. Sometimes I can duck into some bushes to hide, or climb up on a roof to get away and hope they lose track of me, but on the (oft) occasion that they see me it becomes a chase — but not one on an empty stomach. Because as I run around to get away from the opposing forces I’m still eating, still chomping. If I eat too much too quickly then I slow down and can get caught easier, but if I time it out just right then I’m free to eat up. Sometimes there are bags of bones to be found that I can toss and distract the dogs for a second or two, and sometimes I can find a key to unlock a gate for me to escape into a new section of the town.
It’s an incredibly easy-to-understand experience, with accessible controls and just as obvious tasks. And likeable, too. Everything looks good and feels good. The demo may only have been a few minutes long, but like the possum hero I snuck in for seconds.
Now I’m ready for thirds, and fourths… and eighths.
There’s no release date yet for the game.
All images and videos courtesy Cosy Computer and Raw Fury.
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