Scary Thoughts About 'Pony Island'

It's still the month of Halloween, so I had a look at the 2016 indie horror game 'Pony Island,' a self described suspense puzzle game in disguise. The game represents part of a recent trend for games to amuse or horrify using meta game elements - that is to say, the game is aware it's a game and uses that to its advantage. It's hard to review a game like this in the traditional sense, but I still wanted to share my experiences with you. The order is going to be a little different than usual, but please bear with me.

Equestrian Evils (Premise and Metanarrative)

Pony Island gets 'meta' right from the get-go. The premise is that you're a person playing a game on a haunted arcade cabinet - so you're playing a videogame on your computer, wherein you play as a person playing a game on an arcade cabinet. That's where the rabbit hole - or pony stable - starts, and it only goes deeper from there.

Pony Island drops the cute act really fast; there's no long con here. It's interesting to compare it to 2017's Doki Doki Literature Club, which takes a few hours before it gets scary. Pony Island describes itself as a game in "disguise," but the shenanigans begin as soon as you get to the menu proper, which forces you to fiddle with the settings before the game actually functions. One way of doing it isn't better than the other; Doki Doki would have no tension and basically just be an edgy jumpscare game if it played its cards too early, but Pony Island would get tedious and annoying if it just let you play the basic runner game that 'Pony Island' supposedly is for an extended period of time.

So that's how it starts. You're stuck in an arcade playing on a haunted arcade cabinet, and trying to escape by making your way through the dark depths of Pony Island. There's only one way to achieve your goal - seek out the game's three core files and delete them to destroy the game for good.

While the game hinges strongly on the idea of being a game inside a game, it doesn't actually do stuff like mess with files on your PC. You won't be required to dig through the game's files or find a clue posted on your desktop like certain other games with meta elements that I won't name specifically. There are only a few really strong stand-out moments, and I will admit, the game really did get me with those. There's one particularly brilliant moment of deception that you'll know when you see it.

There is a hidden background story to be found about the player character and their history, but that's optional and will require you to dig a bit deeper.

All in all, I like the game's story and meta elements, even if the latter are mostly limited to what happens within the borders of the game. The setting is interesting and distinctive right off the bat, but it keeps you grounded by giving you a clear and easy-to-understand goal. What? Escape. How? Delete the core files.

Struggle Against The Creator (Gameplay)

The way Pony Island controls is very simple - you mostly use the mouse, and on some occasions, the keyboard. What's interesting is how the context changes how you use the mouse completely. After fiddling with the settings and solving a few basic puzzles, the arcade cabinet finally starts Pony Island, and it's an endless runner. Now your mouse isn't used for selecting options, but rather, you can use the left mouse button to jump.

The gameplay during the runner sections is very basic, but the game continues to evolve. As you play, you're constantly addressed and berated by the developer - Satan. He constantly changes the game, often adding unfair or tedious elements, and you have to "hack" around those with little programming puzzles. For example, after you've cleared a level in Pony Island, he adds devil heads that circle around you and kill you and there's nothing you can do, so you hack your way through the options until you unlock a cheat that lets you shoot lasers.

A lot of the game's puzzles involve changing things around the actual runner game to progress, but I don't want to spoil too much of it - this game is at its most fun when you let it surprise you. But I will say that the majority of puzzles - the programming puzzles I talked about earlier - essentially have you figuring out the and changing the flow of a simple program to make it work for you. You do this by dragging around simple commands represented by icons, like arrows that change which lines get read, to different places. It's funny that Human Resource Machine, a puzzle game revolving entirely about simple programming puzzles, was released just a few months prior to Pony Island. The two games have completely different ways of going about it, but it's an interesting comparison nonetheless.

Pony Island's gameplay is fairly simple when you learn how the programming puzzles work. The runner gameplay is a basic two-button affair and there are many moments where you simply explore menus looking for another way forward. On rare occasions, you're asked to type a password or ask a question, but don't expect it more than a handful of times.

You can lose at Pony Island, but it's not very punishing and usually sets you back only a small bit. Some of the runner stages do drag on a little bit, and it can be frustrating if you lose your focus and die near the end so you have to do the whole thing again. The game's simplicity is to its advantage almost 100 % of the time, but I would say the longer runner stages are the exception.

All that's left to say is that the game is quite short, but there are optional tickets to find throughout the game, so there's plenty to do for players that love to discover secrets. You'll really need to think outside the box for some of them.

All in all, Pony Island's gameplay is simple but effective, consisting of simple reflex-based gameplay, mouse-based exploration and puzzling, with occasional typing and a lot of secrets to discover.

Back to the Arcade (Presentation)

Pony Island's presentation is basic, but effective. There are a few layers to it; the game is actually in 3D, but you spend almost all your time with your face stuck to an arcade cabinet, so you'll only catch glimpses of the arcade around you or the hand of your player character if you acquire a ticket.

But most of the game's sights and sounds happen right there on the arcade cabinet, so let's discuss those.

Once the game starts properly, the visuals are much like what you'd expect from an old arcade cabinet, maybe even a bit more basic. The sprites are simple in shape and the visuals are mostly black and white until Satan adds some colorful visuals to the game a bit later down the line. The clever use of filters and visual effects will convince you you really are looking at an arcade cabinet.

Basic though it may be, I really liked the designs in the game. You'll encounter a few demons throughout your adventure, for example, and they're portrayed in various ways - from simple sprites to ASCII art. They're all recognizable and interesting looking, which is praiseworthy considering the lack of detail.

The sound design is right up there with the visuals. Most of it is distinctly retro, but there are many fun details to it - for example, different characters making a different sound when the words they say appear on screen. The game has many punchy and glitchy sound effects to emphasize your progress and the corruption occurring within the haunted game. There are also a few good music tracks, including the one that plays when you finally play Pony Island for the first time. It really communicates the tension that what you're playing is not just a cute runner game.

The game really does look good, but I will say that it's never all that scary. At best, it'll unsettle you or fool you a few times, but most players will probably not feel any genuine fear or terror when playing.

All in all, the presentation can be summarized as simple but effective. It keeps it all very basic but good use of effects and interesting and creative designs really elevate the game, even if it's not all that scary.

Conclusion

Pony Island is a short, fun puzzle horror game with an interesting spin on having a 'meta narrative,' with a few meta moments that'll really throw you for a loop. It doesn't do anything crazy with its story, but it's entertaining and will probably surprise you a few times as well. The game has unique puzzles, many of which revolve around "hacking" the game by fixing the broken programming with your own logic. It also hides many secrets for the enterprising player. It wraps all of this up in a retro presentation that'll convince you you really are at the arcade playing on a haunted arcade cabinet. The runner segments are basic, but they aren't really what the game is all about.

Considering its short and sweet nature, I can recommend the game to anyone who loves puzzles, meta narratives or horror in general. The game is on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/405640/Pony_Island/

_

That was the third Spooktober article, we're on a roll! I played another horror game just earlier today, but I haven't decided if I'm going to write about it yet. Stay tuned for more content in October!