From Press Release:
It’s pineapple time!
You’re 15, new to school, and on day one, the top bully—a pretty, popular, and downright nasty girl (let’s call her the Witch)—starts harassing you. For months, she turns your life into a nightmare. You’ve had enough. It’s time to end this. So, you buy a pineapple.
From that moment you’ll orchestrate some clever pranks, strategically placing pineapples in the bully’s most unexpected and intimate spaces, until she learns her lesson. But beware: she won’t be the only one in for a surprise.
This is Pineapple: A Bittersweet Revenge—a “prank simulator” where you’ll tackle a variety of challenges to outsmart the Witch and execute the ultimate prank. This short, interactive misadventure is inspired by a Reddit post and blends humor with hand-drawn art to tell a quirky revenge tale that sheds light on the oddities of bullying.
A twist on video games as a narrative vehicle, similar to what the team achieved with the award-winning Unmemory, and a hallmark of Patrones & Escondites since its inception in 2016.
For everyone who wants to go wild with pineapples, Pineapple: a Bittersweet Revenge will be coming to PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices next September 26th.
An unconventional gaming experience
PINEAPPLE’s features include:
1. Laugh first, think later: The script, drawings, and situations are all imbued with humor. We aimed to avoid the preachy tone often used when discussing bullying. Instead, humor disarms the player, making them think they are engaging with a funny story while they are actually participating in something darker.
2. Twist ending: It presents a moral dilemma where players transition from victim to aggressor without realizing it. The mysterious points (SN) you earn throughout the game reveal their true meaning at the end, delivering a shocking reality check.
3. Duration: The game lasts about 90 minutes, intentionally short to ensure as many players as possible reach the end. The challenges are fun yet simple, often more interactive than puzzle-based.
4. The Art: We wanted distinctive art from the start, reminiscent of the doodles we made in class. When we found David Octane, his style perfectly matched our vision.
5. The music: The music, especially the final song, plays a crucial role as it acts like a Jiminy
Cricket, delivering the moral of the story in an original and entertaining way.
Look mom, we won an award!
PINEAPPLE was awarded at Guadalindie Málaga 2024 as best ludonarrative game.
About Patrones & Escondites
We are storytelling explorers. We are game artisans.
We want to see you enjoy yourself. We want to make you smile, give you an aha! or a dammit moment. That’s what really matters to us. We are into comics, pins, and negronis. But mostly telling stories. And listening to music on shuffle.
We probably play less than we should—it’s true. Just as true as the fact that our minds write checks our bodies can no longer cash. Or that we’re often running late. We have no talent for singing, programming or saying gnocchi. And we’re not great at doing mainstream things. But we know how to cook paella, take care of the details, and build a team of experts in singing, programming, and saying gnocchi.
We are small but brave. Or just nuts. We are from everywhere and nowhere. We have a past, and multiple professional lives. We haven’t had time to rob a bank. But we have sunk several companies. Now we are what we always wanted to be. Craftsmen. And explorers. Always looking for new ways to tell stories in the confines of video games. Since 2017 until we get it right.
