let’s take a step back in time with the beautiful 3D platformers of some time ago, but let’s “season” them with the right splash of modern and some more secret ingredients. So here is the review of Pile Up !, a curious game that knows how to capture attention
Those who grew up in the much vaunted nineties , we know perfectly well the ” revival ” of this period, knows perfectly well that the games that were most in vogue were essentially two. The 3D platformers on the one hand, with the various Super Mario 64 , Crash Bandicoot , Spyro and company, and the strategic ones on the other with mammoth titles such as Age of Empires , the first Warcraft , Heroes of Might and Magic and so on.
Apparently both are winning the challenge with time because, for example, we have seen not a few remakes and sequels (to you the opinion on Crash Bandicoot 4 , Super Mario Odyssey , MediEvil etc.) and announcements regarding new chapters for so long. expected as the fourth of Age of Empires .
But the nineties are long over and we are in a much more colorful and defined world even if games like Minecraft have been able to question this view of things. Another recent title that has been able to bring back the glorious past of the platformers , including swearing in Aramaic and more “pucciosi” moments , is definitely the new title of Seed By Seed Here is the review of Pile Up!
Just another box in the pile (up)
The game in question comes from neighboring France, to be precise in the city of Angoulême, and is a work for PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One signed by the young independent team of Seed by Seed . The team, born as a school project in 2018, is then supported by a rather interesting philosophy that will not fail to bring out a smile and some old memories that we thought were lost.
In fact, the guys from Seed by Seed firmly believe in moments of sharing, plants and “handmade” video games . Not for nothing have they then declared that they have decided to combine all this to create friendly and fun games that can break down the boundaries between people and have fun all together.
This was our main intention: the promise of an adventure to be shared with up to four people, a casual game that could bring the whole family, children and parents together, in a fun, playful and non-violent space.
From the first hours, but perhaps it is better to say minutes, this sensation is felt perfectly and one is enveloped by a much more childish and innocent fantasy that lulls us with laughter and snacks made on the lawns.
A History of Boxes, Cartons, and Duct Tape – Pile Up Review!
Did any of you know the “parallel-like” saga of our favorite mustachioed plumber, Paper Mario today culminating in Paper Mario: The Origami King ? Here this was one of the very first connections that came to our mind while trying Pile Up! in view of the review. At this we also came up with something like ” the Amazon parcel game “, but let’s not digress. Exactly then, the protagonist of our story is a box as his world is made of cardboard, adhesive tape and basic origami .
The scene opens with a scenario made of cardboard where the boxes are its inhabitants . In this cheerful and peaceful world , which as in any good platformer is a unique environment with connecting portals for all other levels, something interrupts the peaceful existence of its inhabitants.
A sort of darkness envelops everything, someone said ” The Neverending Story “?, And leaves no one left but our little box that will have to collect small boxes, rolls of adhesive tape and keys to finish all the levels and help her little ones friends.
Box by box – Pile Up Review!
Accompanied by a very relaxing and apt soundtrack, we will therefore venture into the levels of physics and colors that distinguish the game in question (we know that the color dungeons were already there at the time of The Legend of Zelda , but allow us this poetic license and videogame).
First of all let’s start by saying that, even if you can play safely alone and with the help of the keyboard alone , it is advisable to use a controller so as not to “go crazy” too much and play together with one or more friends to find together the solution to the various small puzzles scattered around the levels. The latter are really a ladder that starts from the lowest step of the tutorial up to a top made of other boxes and areas to keep in mind in order to progress.
Our box will have to jump and stack other boxes (ranging from the most “simple” cardboard ones to get to the trampoline ones, the sticky ones with a frog’s tongue, the explosive ones, the flying ones and so on) to reach the key to the end of the scheme.
This key, often and willingly, is in possession of one of the other creatures that populate this world such as, for example, frogs, porcupines, bats and the like. Furthermore, these characters will not speak, but will limit themselves to expressing themselves through comics with drawings that explain what they want us to do.
Accumulation is its core and the main challenge is not about execution skills, but the team’s ability to organize and achieve a common goal
That said, our box will be able to perform relatively simple actions such as jumping, stacking, grabbing and dividing the other boxes. Nothing more, nothing less, but know that it is not all as simple as it may initially seem. Aside from a certain amount of patience that should never be missed, particular attention must also be paid to the cardboard areas. They indicate two directions to take, but if you are in front of those with the trash icon printed on them , then you will lose any box you are carrying.
In this case, the “room recharge” option is very useful as it allows us to put the situation back into place a little and proceed in another way. Trust me, you will use it as we did. Furthermore, once each level is completed, the world will go to color a little more and the portals will open to reach the other worlds and go to the bottom of the mystery .
Who says a box can’t be fun? – Pile Up! Review
As many games teach us, and Fortnite is among them for better or for worse, customizing your character is important and fun . Here, unlike many other more famous titles, however, there will not be a hand to the real or virtual wallet, but only to collect enough boxes to change the skin to ours.
Collecting enough of them around the levels we could therefore choose whether to give our protagonist box the shapes of a piece of sushi , a bee , an aircraft pilot , a watermelon , a robot and so on.
So who said that a box can’t be fun? Ask the cats or try to remember the time when you were children and a simple cardboard box from the supermarket could become anything you wanted. From a hut to a spaceship, the only limit was our own imagination!
The more the better – Pile Up Review!
If cooperation is one of the keys to the game, this Seed by Seed philosophy becomes particularly true in several moments. In fact, both in Piazza Boxling where we choose the worlds to visit and in the various levels, we will have the opportunity to play mini games for two or more participants . These then, just to have a touch of retrogaming , will then have the shape of those dear old arcade cabinets . A rather good choice, no doubt about it!
In short, we can safely say that it is the game itself that “tells us” to dedicate ourselves together with friends or family . In these times of social distancing, colored areas and masks there is therefore not only Among Us .
Let’s sum it up a bit
So here we are at the end where we can tell you that the title really surprised us positively . Although it is a game suitable for both casual gamers , children and their families , it will still be able to make you have fun and relax like never before.
