At first glance, Poopdie - Chapter One is an enormous rip-off. Every aspect of its presentation calls to mind Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl's seminal roguelike The Binding of Isaac. Taking a step back, we gave it a second glance, and yep – this game wants to bite Isaac's style so hard it's on the verge of drawing blood. That's just in its aesthetic, mind you – the gameplay doesn't even come close. However, if you laugh out loud every single time you see a butt, or some poop, or some poop coming out of a butt, then either you're six years old or Poopdie is the game you've needed all your life. If you fall under those criteria, please feel free to pretend that the number down at the bottom of this page says '10'.
There's a momentary whisper of fun to be had in the first thirty seconds or so of Poopdie. Sliding your little butt-worm-thing around the top-down map (think classic Zelda or Ittle Dew, in the loosest possible way) feels pretty smooth and responsive. On top of this mind-blowing selling point, there are also myriad shades of brown you can enjoy looking at. Okay, we're done with the positives – let's get stuck in.
You'll spend a lot of your time with Poopdie standing around while you hold down the ZR button. See, the lion's share of the experience is a very, very, very barebones thing wherein you spawn poops out of your butt-worm then use the right analogue stick to point them at whatever you want destroying. Press ZR to sic the little turds on whatever obstacle or enemy is in your way, and wait patiently. Often you'll find that it's simply some overgrowth that needs to be destroyed before you can progress past it, which takes a solid 20 seconds or so of 'poop assault' before it falls. Frequently, there'll be another identical obstacle right behind it. At least you'll have time to catch up on your reading, we guess.
No matter what mission you take on from the scatological cast of unmemorable characters you'll find dribbling around the map, the gameplay does not deviate from this tedium. Go towards the waypoint. Hold ZR to have your army of faeces attack some kind of purple backside. Poop troops fall in battle? Retreat a little and spawn some more, then repeat ad nauseam.
Sometimes you won't have enough in the way of resources to spawn any poops at all, requiring backtracking if you can't spare the coins to simply buy some. Said coins are dropped in aggravatingly small quantities by fallen enemies and obstacles, which you can use to buy upgrades and scrolls which slightly mitigate the powerful apathy generated by the ceaselessly repetitive proceedings, but only briefly. Once the enemies scale up in difficulty, it's back to holding ZR for protracted periods once again.
And that's about it, really. It's an extremely dull game with a borderline-plagiarised aesthetic, no remarkable features or interesting level design, and a pointless association with PewDiePie to make it even less appealing to anyone but his fans, or people with no critical faculties to speak of. It's a shame, because point-and-click adventure Bulb Boy – another game by the same developer – was actually quite good.
If The Binding of Isaac didn't assuage your desire for whining, crying, pooping babies, this won't satisfy your strange craving. If it wasn't associated with such a high-profile streamer it wouldn't even have cause to exist. Who knows, though? Maybe Poopdie - Chapter 2 will be amazing. And monkeys might fly out of our butt. If you laughed at the word "butt" just then, definitely buy this game.
Comments 74
Sounds like the perfect game if you are extremely immature.
"Cons: PewDiePie is in it"
Hello, based department?
Whoa now, it's fine you don't like Pewds but making him a con is pretty absurd. I mean, there's clearly plenty of reasons to not like this game without attacking the man.
Then again, it's all your opinion, I just respect it a lot less now.
Edit: I missed the joke, I have been publicly shamed.
@Marxally No, it's certainly a con in my book. No bias detected.
@Kalmaro : I don’t know if you missed it, or just being daft. But he’s in both the pro and con columns.. As in, pick whether that’s a good thing or not to your own choice.
Are you 5 years old and think him and poop are funny? Then, that’s a pro. If you’re an adult, it’s a con
I love how "PewDiePie is in it" is both a pro and a con.
@JayJ Is gaming seen as a sign of maturity, anyway? I don’t consider myself MORE mature for gaming. It’s how I get in touch with my kid self.
@Clammy I’m an adult and think PDP is quite hilarious, actually. Very good natured and fun.
@Kalmaro lol he is a pro AND a con, might be a joke.
@Kalmaro Did the review get edited? I see "PewDiePie is in it" as both a pro and con. The way I see it, the writer's just saying that his presence is both a plus if you're a fan and a negative if you don't care about or dislike the guy.
"Pewdiepie shouts a racial slur on stream and nobody bats an eye. "
:insert nurse Joker:
"NL lists him as a potential con and everybody loses their mind."
@Kalmaro @Marxally It’s also a pro. It’s both, which is confusing.
I can think of several medical procedures I’d rather undertake than go anywhere near PewDiePie.
@Seananigans Sorry, it's late and I'm tired. I don't get ya. (and I'm sure it's more than likely me not you lol.)
@TG16_IS_BAE I'm happy to be on team "yelling racist slurs because you're angry during a video game is bad"
Wait wait wait... You put PewDiePie as "con"!? As a fellow Swede, I am VERY offended!!!
... Who am I kidding, I couldn't agree more with that
I wish there was just some quality control for what makes this onto the store. This kind of game being in there is just a waste of space and people’s money.
@turntSNACO I'm on team "it's dumb but people make mistakes he made two though, the camera and mic were on as well."
Seem biased. Thats a shame.
@turntSNACO
Pretty sure people noticed.
@turntSNACO Sure, but that was such a long time ago, and the video you are referencing wasn’t racist in intent. Might want to let that go.
Great to see this game is as trash as he is. It's almost as if he is just a money grabbing baby...
I am so happy you gave this game the ten stars it deserves. Thank you for appreciating true humor.
@doctorhino since like 2 months all his income from youtube, streaming, donations, sponsorships and deals go to a monthly charity. He thinks he has enough money and possessions and feels like he doesn’t need any more. Not really monet grabbing if you ask me.
EDIT: but ofcourse no news outlet that it would relevant to reported on that.
@darkswabber A simple Google search lists his charitable work, let's not act as if news outlets are colluding against him to keep it a secret. He's not a victim here.
Lol "Pewdiepie is in it" being both a pro and con made me laugh. Reviewer meta-humour.
@bozz his old work, yes, his new work I didn’t know. I know metro and dexerto are reporting on his good deeds but they are just milking him for clicks at this point.
@doctorhino Hey, at least the cash grabbing is going for a few good causes:
https://manofmany.com/entertainment/pewdiepies-top-charity-work-deeds
man this game really did everything it could to be as unappealing as possible huh
@SSJW Yep! And I think he has also reformed since then. It’s amazing how the Horn Effect so powerfully grips some people’s minds.
This game sounds like such a staggering blend of the absolute most abysmal elements conceivable that it makes me want to throw money at the screen just for the privilege of not playing it.
I love Binding of Isaac however this is just gross lol
@SSJW cool! Maybe you should take the time to learn about a subject before yammering about it, then!
@TG16_IS_BAE You have to understand that not everybody jumps to the N word when they have a ‘heated gaming moment’. It takes a special kind of mind that leaps to that word instead of an average swear word. That was also following months of him seeding his videos with racist, fascist rhetoric waved off as ‘jokes’. Racism isn’t funny and it’s hard to forgive somebody who makes millions from his cultivated following of alt-right gamers with a capital G.
"Like Poop, Butts And PewDiePie?"
Isn't that pretty much the entire population of Youtube and Twitter?
I'm still incredibly surprised someone as successful as Pewdiepie would associate with such a terrible game
I don’t watch PewDiePie so I’ll pass. Looking at the game’s trailer and pictures made me feel sick at my stomach, and I’ve never had that happen to me before so that’s a good thing! I guess...
It baffles me to see people who are not willing to allow people grow up and learn from their mistakes. Sure, we should point out when someone makes a mistake - but rather than condemning them for all eternity, let that be a chance to learn. Otherwise, we are not at all better people than someone who made a mistake, just petty people... Well, let this be a learning chance for everyone, including myself
@Random-User I appreciate the response. FWIW, I really don't detest the guy. I was a fan a decade ago when he was an up-and-comer playing Amnesia: The Dark Descent mods. He's done some dumb stuff since then, but I don't hate him for it. I'm neither a fan nor trying to get him cancelled, so my opinion on him now doesn't really matter.
I wrote what I did because I think it's understandable that Pewdie being featured would be a con for some people, and I because I found it ironic that some folks were so offended about the "Pewdiepie is a con" joke in the review on behalf of someone who famously trafficked in some truly offensive attempts at humor.
Basically, I find it frustrating when people are more angry about an offhand remark in a video game review than they are at racism. If Pewdie has grown in the last few years, that's awesome. If you're a fan, it's not my goal try and convince you that you shouldn't be. I watch Game Grumps, and God knows they've said some problematic stuff in the past.
@bozz You would be surprised how many people are not able to do that "simple Google search" and rather just read a "simple headline" - and those often seem to have a bit of a negative bias.
@nessisonett And yet, even some people who have done even more unthinkable deeds and had a more messed up "special kind of mind" have been able to learn from their mistakes and bad ways of thinking. Sure, no one deserves anyone's forgiveness after doing something bad. But we wouldn't become any better as people, if we didn't let other people learn. I don't know about you, but I know my thinking has developed a lot towards the better even in the last 5 years, and give it another 5 and yet again I will surely have learned more from my mistakes and flawed ways of thinking.
...If you wanna play a game with poop in it, just go play Binding of Isaac instead. lol
@TG16_IS_BAE that's how reviews work.. it's an opinion.. you either agree or disagree. I disagree most of the time with the reviewers. Got myself many times some A++ titles, but looking back it most were overrated and somehow other games that got less attention and scored quite low while they are still good to play. each his own
glad they've finally breathed new life into pewdiepie's greatest creation, feces
Lots of hidden gold on the eshop and this garbage gets reviewed instead? I despair.
Mini review could have been four words.... "Don't touch this *****."
The only reason PewDiePie didn't destroy YouTube is because the idiot Paul brothers beat him to the punch.
@WiX If people can't perform a simple search then that's on them but the idea that the only press coverage he gets is negative and not reporting on his charitable work due to some media bias against him is factually incorrect.
@RPGamer I think at this point the main thing I notice is some ill-advised accent work. I know they're probably thinking "Hey I'll do a funny voice!" and not "hey I'll do a an ethnic stereotype", but yeah...
This game looks like crap
@Random-User
Thanks so much for posting, PDP!
A terrible game about sh*t is pretty fitting. I really loathe this side of gaming culture that spawned guys like this that became, and somehow remained, popular.
@nessisonett You’re absolutely right about the n word. I also know that in other countries it carries a much lighter connotation. I wouldn’t hold a Swedish man to American standards, for example. He just isn’t in the culture enough to REALLY understand, so we must give people like that understanding in return.
@Alucard83 exactly, that’s more than reasonable.
@RPGamer Depends on context, background, intent...I’m willing to give a guy from Sweden a pass because he doesn’t have the same context as say, an American. He doesn’t understand the deep history of hate associated with such terms. I’m also willing to give him a pass because that happened what, two years ago-ish? And he hasn’t repeated the act, as far as we know? Yeah, it’s ok to let it go. Holding onto anger only hurts you, it’s best to set it down and let it go.
@WiX This is the sort of thing that is refreshing to see on the internet. Most people on the internet are extremely accusatory, but I am certain that if you dig into their past and put their mistakes up for public consumption they would wish for forgiveness. I don’t agree with PDP doing something bad in the past, but I think he’s done more than enough to grow past it so for the sake of my own mental space I don’t hold onto it. I also recognize that I am far from perfect, and am finding myself in the “recovery” state quite a bit. It’s a good for learning and self discovery, and much more beneficial than pointing fingers at others!
Guys I need your help. I've never watched a single PewDiePie video but I'm very fond fan of Avgn, Sega Lord X, Gamesack, SSFF and so on... Why this Swedish guy has so much hate on him (nope, I don't want to watch any of his video to find out by myself. My guts are telling me to do not and I listen to my feelings)?
@Sunanootoko People choose to focus on the negative with big celebrities. For whatever reason, they hold PDP to standards higher than their own. I can guarantee if you watched a video you would at least chuckle at how kind silly he is. Meme review is hilarious, and over the years he has been going out of his way to keep things tame. If anybody here actually bother watching even a couple of his videos, you can clearly see that he takes peoples criticism of him and applies it.
@Sunanootoko Because he appeals to the lowest common denominator of YouTube fans. Do you remember when Dane Cook got really popular about 15 years ago?
@TG16_IS_BAE If I, as a massively public figure, had a history of racist and anti-Semitic behavior to my name, I would certainly hope my feet would be held to the fire by the public and that the standards for my behavior would be significantly raised. And the Swedish nationality argument doesn't hold water in 2020, he's not accidentally stumbling into some of those words.
@bozz Ehh, the anti-Semitic stuff is just media smearing. The one video with the n word is easily passable because he apologized and learned from it. He’s a youtuber, not a politician. You really don’t have any right to “put his feet to the fire,” as much as I would to you. It’s just not necessary in this context, but that’s just a bi-product of cancel culture. It’s different to put someone’s feet to the fire, but it’s a whole other notion to force people who have public platforms to walk on eggshells, or even downright lie about their actions.
I’m finding that a lot of people who dislike PDP do so irrationally. There are people in these very comments that are admitting they dislike him and are also saying they haven’t seen any of his videos. That doesn’t make sense, and sounds prejudiced or consciously biased.
As I mentioned elsewhere, this is classic “Horn Effect,” where no matter what someone does to fix their mistakes, the listener will always hate the person because they decided they don’t like them.
Let the guy recover, graciously. He’s not holding any of us back!
@Maulbert Dane Cook was admittedly, quite funny during that time. Haven’t really looked into his comedy lately, is he still even performing?
@TG16_IS_BAE I'm sorry but that's a load of nonsense. Dropping the n word so incredibly casually isn't an easily passable thing and I'm not naive enough to believe that it was a one-time act. I get frustrated at games too but I've never once used a racial epitaph like that during my frustration. You can accept his apology if you want but at the same time be adult enough to not so easily brush off such a terrible thing to say. Cancel culture, a silly term really, has nothing to do with this.
@bozz If you say so! I respect your opinion of the matter. Thanks for sharing it.
If I were any further from the target demographic for this game, I would not live on this planet.
It's thanks to PewDiePie that I discovered the wonderful TV show - 90 day fiancé.
@RPGamer Sounds good, you are welcome to criticize. Thanks for sharing your views.
My answer to all that is a resounding no.
The very existence of this game gives me a reason to hate PewDiePie.
@SSJW Hm?
@SSJW Ok, I think you’re digging a little deep there. I’m willing to let the conversation go, and I already gave you that opportunity. Thanks again for replying but I don’t see the point in continuing. Please have a nice day, maybe I’ll see you around in other articles, but I’m done with this one. Thanks!!
@darkswabber sure that's admirable. Just something about promoting a bad game using your celebrity name seems kind of shady. The game wouldn't exist without him and since it does exist it is going to waste people's money.
Lots of other for profit people picking up big chunks of the profit. It is still nice to hear he is doing good things with his money even if I dislike him I can see the value in that.
I must say, I like Binding of Isaac's style, I like Bulb Boy a lot, and I like Pewdiepie. Also, call me immature all you want, but butt-jokes make me giggle. Even Shovel Knight had this hilarious butt-mode, just replacing some words with "butt". Conker's BFD had a boss fight "the great mighty poo" who sang opera. In Sam & Max when Sam says something about "duty", Max chuckles and says "you said doodie". There's plenty of other poop jokes in games, or stupid stuff like the option to change how a toilet roll hangs in Thimbleweed Park, and a trophy for picking a turd out of the toilet in Duke Nukem forever, ironically. Toilet humor has been a great source of silly jokes at no one's expense and I like it.
Wow, you've been really harsh with our work Stuart! Still I've made an account here just to thank you for your time with the game - Poopdie composer and sfx designer here. Cheers to all NL users!
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