Plaid. Pit People. All about that Bling!

I`ve never had an acid trip, but had I had one this is how I would imagine it to go down: bright, colourful, full of bizarre encounters and even more bizarre messages to take home, that would all make perfect sense in the end. We`re talking a good trip, of course, the kind of one where a flying giraffe would tell you that you`re a good person no matter what. This, in short, is what Pit People is all about.

Pit People is a turn-based strategy game that just came out of a year Early Access. Unlike a lot of games of the genre the battle is presented in an attrition-like manner where it would take at least 4 turns of good pounding until the fighter would yield. This, in turn, considerably lengthens the matches as the player has only up to 5 fighters at a time. Nonetheless, the fighters are very versatile with a huge number of races (full of perks and weaknesses) and customization options available.

The inside of the main town. Note the Pit, this is where your versus battles take place.

If you have been following the Behemoth`s games you`ll know exactly how it all looks. They always had a kink for visual gags and most of the time this would work really well. PP (I wonder if they know Pit People is abbreviated to a pee-pee) is no exception, but rather their magnum opus of visual gags thus far: from dropping poop to mark your path on the map to using guns as thrown projectiles to naming a location Arsonville and putting it on fire. Some of the gags are simple and can get pretty tiring once you saw them a couple of times, some keep getting me every time.

The adventure map. Traveling occurs in real-time.

Music and voice acting, particularly of Will Stamper (who voiced the narrator-bear), deserves a special mention, as it wonderfully compliments the hallmark goofiness, as seen in the Behemoth`s previous game, BattleBlock Theatre.

Gameplay-wise there is a potential turn-off for seasoned strategy players. During the battles the player doesn`t choose who gets hit by your unit. The attack is conducted at random at anybody (or thing) that is within range. A questionable simplification, perhaps the game is targeted at a wider audience, not just TBS lovers?

Round two of a pit battle. Note how some enemies (in red) light up when the 'archer`s' location is selected. These are the potential candidates to get shot.

Recruiting system in the game is somewhat innovative, drawing inspiration from Pokemon. Aside from purchasing at the market, people and creatures are captured during battle encounters by throwing nets and placing them in cages that are bought before in the town. Now the problem with it all is that the target has to the last thing standing which sometimes can be difficult given the random attack ‘feature’. Furthermore, some creatures are actually rare and capturing something like a troll mother would need a great deal of luck as we`re left in the dark of that enemy party size and composition.

Side-quests are a wild ride. This one`s objective to protect a nurse from doctor`s angry patients.

Interestingly, the game tends to push the player into acknowledging ‘the unfairness’: the home base is regularly moved by the bear, some battles being a spike on the learning curve when you are pitched against 3 absolutely waves (looking at you, Jerkimedes), and some battles even acknowledging the fact that they are unfair, i.e. the ‘Unfair challenge’ in the pit. Hence, the game presents with a somewhat of an identity crisis, it wants to be fun and colourful, but then smash your face into the dirt if you’re getting all cosy and casual about it.

The points/loot screen at the end of the battle where a short analysis of each fighter is given.

In the end the game leaves a good impression. It is something I plan to get back every now and then to try that unfair challenge or just wonder around doing some wacky side-quest I will eventually stumble upon. This game is a solid 8/10, fun, but not without weird gameplay decisions.